


let me be your ride out of town

by empressearwig



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M, Female Friendship, Happy Ending, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-24
Updated: 2012-08-24
Packaged: 2017-11-12 19:55:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 47,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/495082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empressearwig/pseuds/empressearwig
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the day Artemis graduates from college, there's someone in the crowd that she never expected to see. When Wally asks her to go on the cross country road trip they'd always planned, her answer surprises them both.</p>
            </blockquote>





	let me be your ride out of town

**Author's Note:**

> The list of people that I need to blame/thank for the existence of this fic is long and some of them probably aren't even aware that they're on it. First and foremost, thanks to both torigates and normative_jean for the encouragement, bribery, and beta services. I owe you both a tremendous amount of gratitude. A general thank you is also due to all the people on my flist that looked at parts of this and said, "more, please." crescent_yume gets a thanks for being my Caribou writing companion, because if I had tried to write all of this from the comfort of my own apartment it would not have been finished, let's be real here. And finally, cashewdani and earnmysong deserve mention for shamelessly enabling my Aaron Tveit obsession, particularly [his performance](http://youtu.be/61EL69OZSlY) of the song from which this fic takes its title. Thank you to all of you, again and again.
> 
> A huge thank you is also due to my artist, irony_rocks, for the beautiful wallpaper that she created for this story. You can find her work, Ride Out of Town, here.

It was Wally's hair that Artemis recognized first. 

Standing on the temporary stage in the Galen Center, waiting her turn to shake the Dean's hand and get her diploma cover, Artemis stared out at the audience searching for Ollie and Dinah. She'd told them a million times that they didn't need to come, but Ollie had ignored every one of her protests and told her that they only way that they _wouldn't_ be there was if the world was ending. Dangerous words for a guy whose primary occupation involved saving the world, but it appeared that for once luck was on their side. He'd offered to fly her mom out for the ceremony too, but the terms of her parole meant she still couldn't leave the state. Artemis was pretty sure that was one of the reasons Ollie had been so adamant about coming himself. She finally spotted them in the third row, and grinned and gave them a little embarrassed wave when Ollie raised his own his own hand in a gesture that could only be described as exuberant. 

Her eyes slid over Dinah and there it was: hair so red that she'd never seen it anywhere else in the world. Red hair that she'd lovingly combed her fingers through while studying, red hair that she'd tugged on in order to get Wally to put his mouth exactly where she wanted it. Red hair that could only be matched by a set of blue eyes that she knew better than she knew her own and --

"Artemis Crock, graduating with honors in accounting."

The person behind her pushed her forward. Artemis stepped up, shook the Dean's hand and accepted the symbol of what she'd worked so hard for four years to achieve.

Her eyes found Wally's in the crowd. Held them while she crossed the rest of the stage on her way back to her seat. She looked away at the last possible moment, surprised at how hard it was. She didn't remember it ever being so hard before.

Artemis took her seat once more, her heart pounding so hard that she was surprised that the people on either side of her couldn't hear it. There was just one thought running on a constant loop through her mind.

What the hell was Wally West doing at her _graduation_?

* * *

Artemis didn't bother to look for Ollie and Dinah after the ceremony. They'd said their goodbyes the weekend before when Ollie picked up the stuff he'd agreed to store for her until she found a place in Gotham. No need to say them twice. And besides that, Artemis was in too much of a hurry to get back to her apartment and check out before she got slapped with a ridiculous late fee. 

She just needed to get in, pick up the last of her bags, find someone to sign off on her room, and that was it. She was done. Then it was up to the roof to wait for M'gann to show up with the bioship to take her back to Gotham.

It was supposed to be easy. Not a complication in sight.

Only when she got to her door, Wally was there too, his back slumped against it with his hands in his pockets, like he had a perfect right to be standing there.

Artemis coughed.

Wally's head snapped up, along with the rest of him. "Artemis!" he said. He sounded flustered. "You're here."

She raised an eyebrow at him, and stepped forward until they were next to each other. She pushed him away from the door so that she could unlock it. "I live here, remember? What's your excuse?"

"Ha ha," he said, stepping into the apartment behind her. "I forgot how funny you are."

She spun on her heel to look him in the eye. His hands came up to grab her elbows, steadying her on the stilettos that Dinah had insisted on buying her as an early graduation present. "You didn't. What are you doing here, Wally?"

He took a deep breath, his chest vibrating against hers. "I came to take you home," he said simply.

Artemis stared at him. She counted ten, just like Zatanna was always telling her to do. She counted ten again. And then she started yelling.

* * *

Wally sat on the couch and watched Artemis pace. 

Well, more like he watched her pace _and_ yell. It was really impressive the way that she managed to juggle both things, plus her shoes, all without pausing to breathe. His eyes darted down her legs to the shoes. Really, _really_ impressive. 

"Wally!" Artemis stood in front of him, hands on her hips. She looked _extremely_ angry, which considering how pissed she'd been before, was not a good sign. "Did you listen to a single word I said?"

Wally thought about lying. But if he lied and said yes, she'd ask him what she'd said and he wouldn't be able to give her an answer and she'd end up even _more_ pissed. Granted, she was going to be pissed when he said that he'd been too busy staring at her legs to pay attention to what she was saying, but if she didn't want him looking, she shouldn't have worn those shoes.

The truth was safer. Wally tried his best charming smile. "No?"

He considered it a mild victory when the only thing she threw at him was a pillow. Before she could reload with anything that could cause actual damage, Wally grabbed her hands in his. "I'm sorry, okay? I should have listened. But God, Artemis, I haven't seen you in five months. I haven't seen you since, well, you know when I haven't seen you since."

At that, Artemis looked distinctly uncomfortable, so he pressed ahead while he had the advantage. He knew better than to expect that chance to come around again.

"You can't blame me for not being able to concentrate when you're standing in front of me looking like _that_." He glared at her shoes. "Who were you wearing those for anyway?"

Artemis looked down at her feet and then back up at Wally's face. She smirked. "Dinah."

Wally's eyes went wide, but he shook his head. Prurient fantasies would have to wait. "So I'm sorry. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I was coming. I just thought that if I did, you'd tell me to stay away." He squeezed the hands that he still held in his own, and looked her straight in the eye. "I don't want to stay away anymore, Artemis."

* * *

Artemis recoiled instantly. 

She jerked her hands away and took a step back. "Wally," she said. "Wally, I --"

He scrubbed his hands over his face. When he looked at her again, it was with resigned frustration. "Look," he said. "I didn't mean to say it like that. I didn't mean to push."

"But it's true," she said before she could think about whether or not she actually wanted to know the answer to her question. She wanted to know.

Wally hesitated, then nodded. 

"Okay," she said. She started to pace again. "Okay."

"Artemis, stop," Wally said. "Don't you want to yell at me some more? Tell me how presumptuous I was to just show up here with my father's car and a route back across the country plotted in my iPhone? Come on, you know you want to."

She couldn't stop her mouth from turning up into a smile. "I did that already. Which you'd know if you'd _listened to me in the first place_!"

"Well, despite my and Dick's combined best efforts, time travel isn't actually possible, so we should probably just move on from that. That ship has sailed."

Artemis frowned at him. She couldn't think straight when he did that and he knew it. "Stop being charming."

"Babe," Wally said, cocking his head to the side. He was clearly amused. "Really?"

"I hate you." 

Artemis said the words without thinking, but she knew in an instant that they were the wrong ones. 

"Don't say that," Wally said, all teasing gone from his voice. "Don't ever say that."

He looked so hurt. Stricken. The same way that he'd looked the last time she'd seen him. Artemis could count on one hand the number of times she'd seen that look on his face. She didn't like knowing that she'd put it there more than once. She didn't like knowing that she had put it there at all. 

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice gentle now. "I didn't mean it. Not like that. You know I didn't mean it like that."

Wally sighed, and scrubbed his hands over his face again. When they were gone, his face was clear, carefully blank, as if nothing had happened. "Yeah, okay," he said. "I know what it looks like, Artemis, but I swear I didn't come here to fight with you."

She raised an eyebrow at him and waited. 

"Okay, maybe a little I came to fight with you." He raised his hand, his thumb and first finger barely a fingernail apart. "That much I came here to fight with you." He grinned then, lightning quick. "Don't even try pretending that you don't like it."

"I won't," Artemis said. And really, what would have been the point? He knew better. "It was my primary source of enjoyment for five years, Wally. But that doesn't explain what you're doing here _now_ or why I shouldn't boot you out on your ass. I had a _plan_ , Wally."

Her voice cracked on his name. 

"I know," Wally said. He reached out for her hands, and she was too tired not to let him, too tired to object when he twined their fingers together the way he'd done a million times before. "But _we_ had a plan first. And that means something to me, Artemis. That still means something to me." He touched her cheek, his thumb just brushing over her skin. "Let me do this for you like I always promised. Please."

It took every ounce of willpower that Artemis possessed not to lean into the caress. It had been too long since Wally touched her like that. He'd always liked to touch her gently, with careful hands, as if she were somehow delicate or that she'd break if he touched too hard or for too long. He was the only person who'd ever touched her like that. 

Wally was the only person she'd ever wanted to touch her like that.

"Yes," Artemis said. 

A smile bloomed across Wally's face, not the fast, dazzling one but the slow one that caught you by surprise but was impossible to resist. Artemis smiled back at him, unable to help herself.

"Yes?" Wally asked.

"I'm not going to say it again," she said, dropping his hand. "Now what the hell are we waiting for?"

Fifteen minutes later, they were out the door and Wally was behind the wheel of the beat up old Ford Taurus his father had insisted on him having despite the fact that Wally preferred running everywhere whenever humanly possible. Artemis was almost certain she'd lost her mind.

* * *

Wally tapped his fingers restlessly against the steering wheel and hummed along with the Counting Crows song blaring from his iPod. He glanced over to his right where Artemis was slumped against the passenger side window, a sweatshirt balled up under her head. She'd fallen asleep almost as soon as they'd gotten in the car, which he knew meant that she had to be completely exhausted or she wouldn't have trusted him that much. 

He frowned. Artemis wouldn't have trusted his _driving_ that much, he corrected himself. She'd never trusted that. But she had five and a half years of trusting _him_ , and if she didn't still trust him she wouldn't have gotten in the car with him. It was really that simple.

He looked at her again. She might have been asleep once, but he was pretty sure that now she was just playing possum to avoid talking to him. He knew the difference between an awake and an asleep Artemis, and that was definitely not one that was sleeping. Luckily, Wally had come prepared for just such an occasion. 

He thumbed the iPod over to his best of Justin Bieber playlist and pressed play. No sooner had the first strains of _Baby_ blasted through the speakers than Artemis bolted straight up in her seat. She grabbed the iPod out of his hand and started scrolling through the options.

"Afternoon, beautiful," Wally said, trying not to laugh. He didn't entirely succeed. "Nice nap?"

Artemis gave him a dirty look, and Frightened Rabbit filled the car instead of wimpy boy pop. "That was totally uncalled for," she said. "What did I ever do to you?"

Wally raised an eyebrow at her. "Really? You want to go there now?" He gestured to the cramped interior of the car. "Here?"

She frowned at him. "No. God, I forgot how I can't _think_ when I'm around you."

"You used to like it."

Artemis looked out the window of the car instead of answering. 

Which pretty much left Wally feeling like shit. He'd meant it when he said he didn't want to push her. Or maybe it was that he did but he knew what a colossally bad idea it was. You didn't push Artemis around and hope to keep all your limbs, and Wally liked his limbs exactly where they were, thank you very much. It was just that he'd missed her so much and now she was here, less than an arm's length away, and he wanted to touch her. He also wanted to shake her until she explained what happened last Christmas, but mostly he just wanted to touch her. And he couldn't. It sucked.

He was too busy wallowing to see the moment that Artemis realized the direction they were heading, but he sure as hell felt it, her fingernails suddenly jabbing into his arm.

"Wally," she said, her voice pitched low and deadly serious. "Would you like to tell me why we're headed north instead of east?"

Wally swallowed, hard. "I can explain?"

It was the wrong thing to say.

* * *

Wally was watching Artemis pace again. He didn't imagine it said anything good about their relationship that Artemis spent so much time walking off her frustration, but since he really liked watching her move, he couldn't find it in himself to care. 

She paced the length of the fence around the dumpster at the first McDonalds he'd found after she ordered him to pull over with a look in her eye that said he'd better do so _immediately_ or she was going to commit a hostile takeover of the car. He'd pulled around the back, hoping against hope that they'd be able to stay off the radar of everyone else, because when Artemis got mad Artemis got _loud_ and he really didn't want anyone complaining about the noise. His door was open and his legs were swung out onto the pavement as he watched her, his nose and his stomach at war with each other. 

Artemis stopped right in front of him and Wally blinked, looked up. "You weren't listening to me again," she said. " _God_ , Wally, how could I have ever --"

There was no way in hell he was letting her finish that sentence. He was up on his feet in an instant, his hand over her mouth. "I want you to listen to me," he said. "Just hear me out, and if you don't like what I have to say, well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. But you have to listen. Nod if you accept my terms."

Artemis nodded, a murderous gleam in her eyes. Wally deduced that he should talk fast. He lifted his hand.

"Four years ago," he said, "did we or did we not agree that when we graduated from college, we would go on a cross country road trip?" Artemis opened her mouth to answer, but Wally held up his hand to cut her off. "You can nod for yes or no."

Artemis nodded again. Wally had never seen an angrier nod in his entire life.

"Did we or did we not spend more than a month debating a perfect route? One that let _both_ of us go everywhere we'd always wanted to go? Nod."

Another nod, another evil look. Though, Wally thought he saw some glimmer of softening. Just a little. Just enough to keep him going.

He pulled out his phone and pulled up the screen that he wanted. He held it out for her to look at. She took it from him and stared at the screen. 

"Is that or is that not the route we always planned to take? Now you can answer."

But she didn't. Artemis just kept staring down at the screen. She stared and she stared some more, and eventually Wally got worried. A silent and angry Artemis didn't usually mean anything good for the person who'd pissed her off. She knew too many ways to kill someone and dispose of the body and he'd even helped by parking next to the damn dumpster.

He shook his head to clear it. She was still looking down at the phone. Enough was enough.

"Artemis?" he ventured, as carefully as he knew how. "Are you --"

She looked up, finally. Wally blinked and leaned closer. Were those _tears_ in her eyes? He had to be imagining that.

"You remembered," Artemis said. "I can't believe you remembered all of this." She laughed, a surprised sound that had Wally's hackles going up. "You remembered that I always wanted to see the Grand Canyon."

"Of course I did," Wally said, knowing he sounded like a cross little boy. Well, he was. "I offered to take you for your birthday and you wouldn't let me. Said it was too far to run and that it wouldn't be the same to go by zeta. So we added it to the trip. Of course I remember that, Artemis."

"I just -- I guess that," Artemis said, fumbling over her words. "I don't know. I just thought you'd want to forget."

"Like you did?" he asked, stepping closer until he was all the way into her space. His hands went to her elbows, holding her in place. "Did you forget, Artemis?"

She looked him dead in the eyes. "No," she said. "But Wally, it doesn't change anything."

Wally shook his head. "That's where you're wrong," he said. "It changes _everything_." He let go of her then. He knew better than to hold her too long when she didn't want to be held at all. And he'd pressed his luck far enough for one day. "Let's get out of here, yeah?"

He started back for the car, but Artemis didn't move. "Problem?"

"Wally, even if this is an incredibly sweet thing of you to do, we can't. This trip is going to take weeks. I don't have weeks. I have a job to start, a life to get back to. I can't just drive all over the country with you just for the hell of it."

"Ah," he said. He nodded towards the phone she still held in her hands. "Call Dick. But get back in the car first. I want to hit the drive thru before we get back on the road. I'm _starving_."

* * *

Artemis got back in the car. 

She was so mad at Wally. She wasn't mad at all. She was -- she was confused. That was what Wally West did to her. He reduced her to an indecisive, confused mass of _goo_ , and if there was one thing Artemis wasn't, it was goo. 

Wally pulled into the line for the drive-thru and reached over to tap the screen of the phone she was still clutching in a death grip. "Aren't you going to call? But wait, before you do, what do you want?" He waved his hand at the menu board. "I'm buying."

Artemis snorted. "You're also the one eating. You'd damn well better be buying."

"Touché," he said, grinning widely at her. "But really, what do you want?"

"Burger, fries, whatever," she said. She shrugged. "You know what I like."

Wally opened his mouth to protest -- and really, she couldn't blame him because she _never_ let him order for her since it inevitably ended up with him ordering more food for _him_ \-- but Artemis just held up the phone. "You wanted me to call Dick, didn't you?"

That shut him up. Wally took the phone from her and undid the security that she was sure Dick had put there in the first place. "Here," he said, passing the phone back. "You should be all set."

Artemis's finger hesitated over the speed dial app. She knew what Wally's speed dial used to be. His parents were, and probably always would be, first. She was second. Dick was third. But that was before she broke up with him. Maybe he'd bumped Batman up his speed dial the way he'd always threatened/wanted to. Maybe she wasn't there anymore at all.

Artemis shook her head. She was being well and truly ridiculous. She pressed three. 

The phone rang. Wally started reciting off the entire contents of the menu to the poor person on the other end of the drive thru. The phone rang some more.

Finally, Dick answered. "Did she say yes?" 

"She didn't say anything," Artemis answered, more than a little amused. She and Zatanna were less a stereotypical pair of best friends than those two, she swore. " _Someone_ didn't make the terms of his offer clear."

"Ah," Dick said, infusing a wealth of meaning into the single syllable. "Hi, Artemis."

"Hi, Dick. How's Zatanna?"

She could almost hear his shrug. "She likes France. She'll be back for your welcome home party, though. I promised to send the jet for her. Hopefully she won't be bringing Jean-Paul."

Zatanna hadn't mentioned a Jean-Paul. Which meant that it wasn't serious, but Artemis wasn't going to tell Dick that. Not now. Not when there was a conspiracy between him and Wally that she didn't know about. He deserved to suffer if he didn't know Zatanna well enough to know when he had no reason to be jealous. "Interesting. So, Dick, Wally said there's something you're supposed to tell me? Something that will make me want to spend weeks on end in a car with him"

" _Hey_ ," Wally said, offense evident.

Dick laughed. "Yeah, I can't really blame you," he said. "I've lived through Wally's driving."

Wally snatched the phone from her hand. "Please remember that you're supposed to be on _my_ side," he said. He gave her the phone back.

They pulled up at the window to pay and Wally forked over his debit card. Artemis didn't look at how much it cost. She knew better.

"Still waiting for an answer here," Artemis said, her toes tapping against the dash. 

"You sure I can't interest you in any other information? Like, for instance, the story about Wally falling on his ass at _his_ graduation? I have pictures. And video."

" _Dick_."

"That's a no then. Right," Dick said. "So, please, remember that I am a friend to you both. And a teammate to you both. And that I only have the best interests of all of us in mind."

"Dick," Artemis said, a sense of dread overtaking her, "what did you _do_?"

"Let me just spell this out for you, Artemis. My best friend, the dude who's been stupid in love with you since he was _sixteen_ , wants to do this. If he _doesn't_ do this, he is going to moan and pout and I am going to have to listen to it, because apparently that is in the best friend contract. I don't want to listen to it. So. Don't worry about the time, we can totally adjust your start date to whenever you get here. But you have to do this, Artemis. If not for you or him, do it for the rest of us. _Please_."

He hung up and Artemis was left staring at the phone again.

Wally passed her a bag of food. "Did he hang up again? He likes to do that. I guess you don't learn phone manners from Batman either." He gave her the most serious look it was possible for someone holding cheeseburgers in both hands to give. "So are you in?"

Artemis dropped the phone in the console and opened her bag of food. "Can you eat all that and drive?" she asked instead of answering. "I mean, should I be afraid for my life here?"

The face-splitting grin on Wally's face told her that it was all the answer he needed.

* * *

An hour outside Star City, Wally made a pit stop for gas. As he got out of the car to deal with filling the tank, Artemis decided she'd do the same. Too much sitting made her antsy. Which was just one more reason that this trip was a truly terrible idea.

She stretched her arms up over her head, sighing with relief as her shoulders popped. She stretched up on her toes and then bent down towards the ground, her hands skimming across the rough concrete. As she stood back up, she noticed Wally staring at her, utterly slack-jawed.

"Perv," she said. There was no heat behind the word, more amusement than anything else. It was flattering, somehow, to know that she could still do that to him. Knowing that and liking it probably made her a terrible person, but Artemis just figured it made her a human one.

And besides, she thought, as she watched Wally's hands flex around the gas pump. It wasn't like it was a one-way street.

Artemis shook her head to clear away the fog of lust that had descended around her. She would not have those thoughts. Those thoughts would lead nowhere she could let herself go. She hooked her thumb toward the convenience store. "I'm going to go grab something to drink. Is there anything I should start stockpiling for you while I'm in there?"

"Nah," Wally said, shaking his head. "I'll do it myself. Besides I don't think I'll need _that_ much food."

Artemis nodded and started to walk away. But there was something about what he'd said, about the way he'd said it. She spun back around. "Wally," she said, turning his name into a question.

Even from where she stood, Artemis could see the back of his neck go red. Wally scratched at his skin almost absently, a sheepish expression on his face. It was a dead giveaway.

"Well," he said, "it's not really a big deal."

Artemis just stared at him.

"It's just that since we're so close -- and you know how much I want to see the Jelly Belly Factory and the tours are over for the day -- I figured we could crash with Ollie and Dinah tonight? You know, if you don't mind. Because we don't have to do that at all. Whatever you want to do. I'm going to stop talking now."

Wally clamped his mouth shut and have her the most pitiful pleading little boy look Artemis had ever seen, which was remarkable when you got down to it, because she'd seen Wally before they had sex for the first time. She'd never thought anything could top that.

Artemis nodded. "Okay."

She turned back around and headed for the store. She was damn well snagging a Snickers before Wally came in and emptied the store out.

Which, sure enough, Wally did.

* * *

Wally let Artemis drive the rest of the way to Ollie's. Well, technically, _let_ was probably inaccurate. They'd come out of the store and she'd held out her hand and raised her right eyebrow, and Wally had crumpled like he had no spine at all. And that, probably, was true. At least when it came to her.

But Wally knew that driving made Artemis feel like she was in control and anyway, she knew the way to Ollie's house/estate better than he did, so what was the harm? Wally was man enough not to need to be behind the wheel all the time. He had no problem sharing with Artemis.

Except somehow, he'd forgotten that Artemis drove like someone was chasing her _all the damn time_. He spent the rest of the trip clutching at the passenger side door and wishing he'd listened to his Sunday School teacher when she tried to teach him his prayers. When they finally got to Ollie's, the first thing Wally did was fall to his knees and kiss the ground below him.

"I'll never leave you again," he said. "I will only go places that my feet can take me. I will never forsake you."

He didn't see Artemis round the hood of the car. He definitely felt her hit the back of his head.

"This was _your_ idea," she said. "We can still call this whole thing off."

She hit him again. Wally winced, and scrambled to his feet.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I just needed a minute. Have you been taking driving lessons from someone besides my dad? Because I'm almost positive he didn't teach you that."

"That would be me," Dinah said from the doorway. Her arms were folded over her chest and she looked amused. "Do you have a problem with the way I drive, Wally?"

Wally was the first to admit that he could be a grade-A idiot sometimes, but even _he_ wasn't that dumb. "Uh, no. Of course not. Nice to see you again, Dinah."

"Yes, it's been so long. Oh wait, it was eight hours ago."

Artemis laughed, the traitor. Wally shot her a dirty look.

Ollie appeared in the door next to Dinah, grinning broadly. "Don't let them gang up on you, Wally. Or at least don't do it when I'm not around to enjoy it."

Artemis laughed harder. "This was an excellent idea, Wally. I'm so glad you thought of it."

She walked off, leaving him standing alone. He watched as Ollie and Dinah wrapped their arms around her, escorting her into the house.

"I'll just get the bags," he said to no one whatsoever, as he headed towards the back of the car. "No problem. I don't need any help. Happy to do it."

Wally popped the trunk and started unloading.

* * *

Given the small mountain of pizza that Ollie had ordered, it was clear that he definitely knew his audience. But by the time Wally went back for what had to have been his twentieth slice, Artemis decided she'd rather eat her own hand than watch it again. She slipped out while Ollie was daring Wally to do something -- she didn't want to know what -- and headed down to the pool. She settled into one of the deck chairs with a sigh, leaning back and closing her eyes.

It was quiet here. Peaceful. She could hear some muffled noise from the house, mostly Ollie's laughter, but nothing to disturb her. Except for the footsteps that were coming steadily closer. Those would disturb her.

"Hi, Dinah," Artemis said, not opening her eyes.

"What gave me away?" Dinah asked. She sounded amused, and more than a little curious.

Artemis cracked an eye open and looked to her left. Dinah was settled in the next chair over, settling back in it the same way that she had.

Artemis tapped her ear. "I have excellent hearing. Wally always says --" She cut herself off. No need to mention him to someone that used to double as the team shrink. "Excellent hearing," she said again, lamely.

"Ah," Dinah said. Artemis didn't have to look to know that there was a knowing smile on Dinah's face. It was the same look that Zatanna got every time the subject came up. Artemis hated that look. "How _is_ Wally?"

Artemis refused to take the bait. "You saw him last. You tell me."

"I'll rephrase. How are you _and_ Wally?"

Artemis sat up and turned to look at Dinah. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

Dinah shook her head. "Afraid not."

" _Fine_ ," Artemis said with a sigh. "You know, if I'd known back then that joining the team came with all of this feelings talk, I would have passed."

"Yes," Dinah said, nodding her head. "I do know that."

Artemis made a face at her. "What don't you know?"

Dinah made a _tsk_ -ing sound. "Really? You want to give me that opening?" She didn't give Artemis time to answer. "Tell me what you felt when you saw Wally today."

Artemis slumped back against the chair. "Confusion? Surprise?" She hesitated, weighing the next word carefully, knowing that Dinah would assign it outsize significance. "Happiness."

"Why were you happy to see him?"

"I _missed_ him. The last time I saw him -- which I'm _not_ talking about, because it's private -- was January 3. It's May. The last time I didn't see him for so long was before I knew him." Artemis shrugged. "Wally's basically like an extra limb at this point."

"So it had nothing to do with the fact that you're still in love with him."

"Of course it has something to do with -- Hey." Artemis bolted straight up in her chair. "I didn't say that."

Dinah smiled at her smugly. "You just did."

Artemis crossed her arms over her chest. "You are entirely too good at that."

"We all have our own special talents." Dinah reached over to touch her knee. "Hey. It's okay to love him, you know. He's a pretty lovable guy."

"He is," Artemis said. "Loving Wally's never been the problem."

"Then what is?"

Artemis shook her head. "I can't -- I _won't_ \-- talk about it. Don't ask me to."

Dinah held up her hands in the universal gesture for back off. "I won't. It's just -- want some free advice?"

Artemis barked a short laugh. "Can I stop you?"

"No," Dinah said. "But that's because I care. Talk to _him_ , Artemis. He doesn't get why you left, and I'm not sure you get why you did either, and I _know_ that neither of you will be able to get over it until you figure things out. Take advantage of this trip. I think it's the best thing you guys could have done." Dinah stood. "I'm heading back in. Don't stay out here too long, or I won't be able to stop one or both of them from coming to look for you."

Dinah headed back into the house, and Artemis watched her go. She really hated it when Dinah was right.

* * *

Once Dinah made her move towards Artemis, Wally expected the interrogation. Old people were _not_ subtle. He just wasn't expecting the question to come when he'd just stuffed his mouth full of pizza. He probably should have been. 

"So what's going on between the two of you?" Oliver asked. His voice was nothing but innocence personified, but his face told another story. His face was equal parts amused and 'if you fuck with my surrogate daughter I will end your life'. 

Wally would have appreciated the sentiment on Artemis's behalf if he weren't completely sure that Ollie meant it. 

And so, Wally promptly choked.

Oliver pounded him on the back with a little too much glee, and Wally coughed and coughed and then coughed some more. He grabbed blindly for his glass of water, trying to ease the pain in his throat. 

"Um," Wally said when he thought he could manage it. "Um."

Oliver had the nerve to laugh. "I thought you were supposed to be smart, kid."

Now that was a step too far. "I _am_ ," Wally said, bristling. He frowned. He didn't like that Oliver might have had a point. "Except possibly about _her_." 

This time when Oliver clapped him on the back it was a gesture of solidarity. "Nothing wrong with that. Any man who tells you he does understand women is a man that's lying to you. Never forget that."

Wally nodded fervently, glad that Ollie was back on his side. "Right. Of course. I'll do that."

"But," Oliver said, leaning forward so that he was entirely too much in Wally's space, "that doesn't mean you don't have to answer my question."

"What was the question again?" Wally asked. He remembered _all_ too clearly, but that didn't mean he didn't want the few extra seconds to come up with the answer. Somehow he didn't think 'I have no fucking clue' was going to be an acceptable answer.

"What. Is. Going. On. Between. The. Two. Of. You." Oliver said again, enunciating each word as if it were its own sentence. 

It was suitably intimidating. 

Wally hemmed and Wally hawed. He thought about lies and half-truths and of trying to make a run for it. What was the point of being a speedster if you couldn't outrun an unarmed archer? Except Wally didn't know where Oliver kept stores of equipment so it was entirely possible that he wasn't unarmed and Wally wasn't really in the mood to get shot tonight. He settled on the truth.

"I don't know," he said, spreading his hands wide. "I know what _I_ want to be going on, but Artemis?" He shrugged. "You'd have to ask her. Which is what I imagine Dinah is up to right now."

Oliver stared at him for a long moment, long enough that Wally was reconsidering the superspeed option. But then he burst out laughing and clapped him on the shoulder again. "Fair enough," he said. "And I know that advice is more Dinah's speed, but you want some anyway?"

"Sure," Wally said cautiously. He wasn't sure that whatever Oliver would say would actually prove _useful_ but that didn't mean that humoring your host was a bad idea. His mother had raised him with better manners than that.

"Don't ever lie to her. This life that we've chosen, it involves too much of that. Be the person that she can always count on to be honest with her. Be the person that she can always be honest with." Oliver stood. "And for god's sake, don't fuck it up again."

Oliver left. Wally sat and thought about what he said.

And then he ate the rest of the pizza. No sense in letting perfectly good pizza go to waste.

* * *

Their first stop was a disaster. The day had started well enough, with only a brief tussle over the keys (that Artemis won) while Artemis, Oliver, and Dinah ate bagels and Wally ate the rest of the contents of Ollie's fridge. But the tour itself was a bust. Somehow Wally hadn't read the info on the website well enough (even though it was _clearly_ labeled, as Artemis felt compelled to point out) to realize that they wouldn't actually get to _see_ any candy making on a Sunday. Just the factory and lots of videos. 

And so now, they were back on the road, a sulking speedster clutching his bags of candy in the passenger seat. 

Artemis shot him a sideways glance. If she didn't know better, she'd have thought his face had actually frozen like that. "I'm sorry," she said again. She didn't mean it. She nodded towards the bags of jelly beans. "At least you got lots of really cheap candy. That'll last you what, two days?"

Wally kept staring out the passenger side window.

It was pathetic. And frustrating. And it made Artemis want to shake him, which was really unfortunate because that feeling usually led to other feelings and she'd called a moratorium on those feelings.

"Whatever," she said, looking back at the road. "What were you hoping for anyway?"

Wally didn't answer, and Artemis let Stars fill in the empty space between them. If he wanted to be that way, he could be that way. She would concentrate on her driving and the scenery and not reaching across the console to strangle and/or makeout with the person sitting next to her. It's a better use of her time anyway. 

"Willy Wonka," Wally said.

Artemis blinked and snapped her head towards him. "What?"

"Willy Wonka," he repeated. "I thought the factory would be like Willy Wonka."

"Gene Wilder or Johnny Depp?" Artemis asked, not even trying to fight the grin from spreading across her face. Because _god_ , that was _such_ a Wally answer. And she hadn't realized how much she'd wanted to hear one of those.

"Gene Wilder, definitely," Wally said. "We've talked about this."

Artemis shook her head, making a _tsk_ -ing sound. "And you're still wrong."

The candy fell to the floor and Wally sat up straighter in his seat, and just like that it was on. 

The hour they spent arguing about oompa loompas and the physics of flying glass elevators was the first time Artemis really thought that this trip could work.

Wally even shared his candy. If that wasn't progress, Artemis didn't know what was.

* * *

They stop for the night in Eugene. Artemis argued that they should drive the entire way to Seattle, but Wally was _not_ spending fourteen straight hours in the car, thank you very much. Not if he wanted Artemis to still be speaking to him at the end of them. Everyone was always telling him to know his limits and well, Wally did. Fourteen hours of driving in one day just so happened to be one of them. Sue him, he was used to running instead.

But he knew that Artemis didn't like it, didn't like the way that days and nights were already adding up before her eyes, and so when she spotted the Motel 6 from the highway, he headed for the exit without a single complaint. They checked in -- Artemis making sure to emphasize the part where they needed two beds, like Wally was _stupid_ or something -- and headed up to the room to dump their stuff.

Artemis disappeared into the bathroom and Wally collapsed on the bed closest to the door. Driving was _exhausting_ , how did people do it every day? His eyes drifted shut and he contemplated the needs of his stomach versus how much he really just wanted to take a damn nap. He was so caught up that he didn't hear the bathroom door open, just felt the plop of the keys on the comforter next to his head. He cracked open one eye and found Artemis standing over him, doing her best not to look amused.

"There's a Denny's down the street," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "You drive."

Wally grinned and bounded up off the bed and to the door in a blink of an eye. She didn't have to tell him twice. "It would be my very sincere pleasure."

Artemis snorted. "That's what I'm afraid of."

Wally held the door open for her. "After you, m'lady."

" _Stop_ ," Artemis said, but without heat, as she breezed past him on her way out the door.

"Whatever you say," Wally said, all agreeable affability. She didn't need to know that he had his fingers crossed behind his back.

What Artemis didn't know couldn't hurt him. Or her. But mostly him.

* * *

"One lumberjack slam, one ultimate skillet, and one bacon slamburger," Wally said, passing the menu back to the waitress. "Thanks."

The waitress blinked. "Sure," she said. "I'll go put this in."

Artemis sighed. This always happened when they ate in restaurants together. As _if_ she'd let that walking stomach order for her. "Um, aren't you forgetting someone?"

The waitress looked back at Artemis, her eyes bugged out of her head. "You mean that wasn't for both of you?"

Artemis shook her head. "Nope." She waited patiently while the waitress stared at Wally in horror. This was another thing that always happened. "So can I order?"

"Yes," the waitress said, finally wrenching her eyes away from Wally. "Of course. What'll you have, honey?"

Artemis didn't need to look across the table to know that Wally was shaking with barely repressed laughter. "The bacon avocado burrito, please. Thanks." 

She passed the menu over and the waitress made her escape. 

Artemis glared at Wally across the table. "Did you have to do that?"

Wally grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm a growing boy, Artemis. You know this."

She snorted. "Remind me again, which way are you growing? Because the last time you got taller, you were seventeen and you lorded it over us -- _me_ \-- for months."

"You liked it," Wally said, waggling his eyebrows at her. "Don't play."

Artemis found that to be a prudent moment to look down at her Diet Coke. Because _yeah_ , she had. A taller Wally had meant a Wally with a practically perfect lean and Artemis appreciated that. She blamed M'gann's obsession with nineties television. 

"This seems to be my cue to change the subject," Wally said. He sounded normal, but underneath Artemis was almost sure she heard some sadness. She really wanted to be hearing things. "Want to go for a run with me after this?"

Artemis blinked, surprised. That had not been what she was expecting. "What?" She shook her head. "No. Wally, we've tried that before. It doesn't work. Why would I --"

"Because it would be fun," Wally said, setting his elbows on the table and leaning forward. There was an eager smile on his face, and it made Artemis weak. "Come on. I mean, I'll have to actually run-run for awhile too, but you can't tell me that you don't want to stretch your legs after spending all day in the car."

She could feel herself wavering. "Maybe," she said, and instantly, Wally grinned. "Did you have a location in mind for this run?"

There was that grin again. "How do you feel about some light breaking and entering?" he asked.

The waitress picked that exact moment to show up with their food. Artemis made a mental note to double her tip.

* * *

"Only you," Artemis said later, shaking her head, "would break into a track facility. Seriously, Wally, who _does_ that?"

Wally grinned at her and if her knees felt a little weaker, Artemis was sure it had more to do with the five miles she'd just run than that. "Track nerds," he said, nudging her in the side. "Also, you."

She nudged him right back. "I was coerced."

Wally snorted and slung a towel around his neck. "Please. You are the least coercible person I know. Believe me, I'm the world's leading expert on the coercion of Artemis Crock. I know."

"Shut up," Artemis said. She cringed. The retort sounded lame even to her own ears. She tried to regroup. "I mean, I can be talked into things. What about the time I let you talk me into going skinny dipping in the harbor in _January_ because you _had_ to go Polar Bearing? Or the time that I let you and Dick convinced me to try to stall Batman while you guys tried to bug the _Batcave/i >?"_

Before she even finished, Wally was shaking his head. "All things you wanted to do anyway. They don't count."

"Excuse me?" Artemis said, bristling. "I did _not_ want to be naked in freezing cold water, Wally."

"Well, okay, maybe not that," Wally conceded. "But the Batman thing, you were totally into that. Don't pretend that you weren't."

"Fine," Artemis said. "I'll admit to that if you admit that I can so be talked into things. I mean, I let you talk me into sex, didn't I?"

Wally stared at her. And stared at her some more. And just when the staring was getting to a truly worrying place, because if there was anything Wally West _wasn't_ it was silent, he burst out laughing. 

Artemis frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. It hadn't been _that_ funny a thing to say.

"Please," Wally said, dabbing at his eyes with his sweaty towel. Artemis hoped it smelled terrible. "If I remember correctly, the sex was _your_ " -- he paused at her raised eyebrow, reconsidered -- "okay, _our_ , idea. There was no talking anyone into that. We were both pretty firmly on the side of it being a really good idea." 

"You're right," she said, grudgingly. The corners of her mouth tugged up, against her will. "It was a good idea."

"Just about the best one we ever had," Wally said. He stood, stretched. His shirt rode up, revealing his incredibly toned torso. God, couldn't he have been one of those people that let themselves go when suffering from heartbreak? Didn't she deserve that?

But no, he wasn't, and the sudden need to run her tongue over his abs, was entirely Wally's fault. God knew, it wasn't a feeling she wanted to have. Hence, Wally's fault.

A set of fingers snapped in front of her face and Artemis blinked. "What?" she snapped, before she thought the better of it. "I mean, what?"

"I'd love to know where you were just now," Wally said. "But we don't have time." He nodded his head towards a set of incoming headlights. "I'm guessing there's a security check headed this way."

Artemis was on her feet in an instant. "Let's get out of here," she said."The last thing I want to have to do is call Dick to bail us out of jail in Oregon, all because you wanted to complete a pilgrimage or something."

They started for the exit, Wally protesting her characterization of his Steve Prefontaine fanboy status, and Artemis let herself breathe a sigh of relief.

No more running, she told herself. It would only lead to bad things. She snuck a sidelong glance at the sweaty hair curling at the back of his neck.

Very bad things.

* * *

Wally let Artemis grab the first shower and sank down onto his bed with a groan. He buried his head in his hands. How could he have let things take that turn? Why didn't he try harder to change the subject?

 _Because you liked it_ , said the little voice in his head. Wally hated that fucking voice, especially when it was right.

Because he had liked it. For the two minutes when they were bantering about sex, it was like things were back to the way they used to be before everything went to hell. When her eyes glazed over and her mouth went slack and Wally _knew_ that she was still as affected by him as he was by her, it took every ounce of willpower he didn't really possess not to grab her and kiss her and exorcise every bit of sexual frustration the last five months had caused.

It was a _lot_ of sexual frustration.

But that would be too easy. It would be easy to fall back into a pattern where they had sex and it was mind-blowing and they were too busy with that to actually talk and then next thing Wally knew she was cutting him off without an explanation and just expecting him to be okay with it. Wally hadn't been okay with it the first time around. He sure as hell wasn't going to let it happen again.

So they would take things slow. Even if it killed him.

And as if on cue, Artemis walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel so small that Wally was sure it had been designed specifically to torture him.

He couldn't stop the groan from escaping and Artemis's cheeks turned pink. 

"Sorry," she said, grabbing her bag off the bed. "I forgot, I'll just --" she backed back into the bathroom before she finished her stumbling sentence.

Wally dropped his head back into his hands. It should have been a comfort that he wasn't alone in the frustration.

It really, really wasn't.

* * *

In the morning, Artemis looked as exhausted as Wally felt. He didn't say a word about it, though, not as they raided the continental breakfast or when they stopped for gas and Wally bought out the store's supply of Fritos or even when Artemis made a Starbucks pitstop and ordered the biggest, strongest coffee on the menu. He might have been exhausted and rapidly approaching some sort of sexual frustration induced mental breakdown, but even he had his moments of knowing when things were colossally bad ideas. 

Instead, Wally kept quiet when she commandeered the keys and found the angry rock section of his iPod that was only on there for her and shared his Fritos whenever she held out her hand. He knew his girl. And sure enough, by the time they hit Seattle, there was actually a smile on her face and she was tapping her fingers against the steering wheel as she sang along with Garbage. 

Sure, Wally didn't necessarily love the content of the song ("Bad Boyfriend", really?), but he loved seeing Artemis like this. He loved seeing her feel without calculation, peaceful and easy and other corny things that probably came from the Eagles songs his parents liked so much.

"I can feel you staring," Artemis said from nowhere, sneaking a sidelong glance his way. "Do I have grease on my face or something?"

"Nope," he said, after realizing that shaking his head wasn't the most effective way of communicating with someone attempting to navigate traffic. "I just like it."

Her cheeks turned the faintest bit pink and her hands tightened on the steering wheel. That, Wally decided, was the perfect reaction. 

"Moving on," she said. "What else are we doing while we're here? This is your show, Wally. You're the one who _had_ to come here."

"There's a restaurant that spins in circles!" Wally protested, indignation threatening to erupt to the surface. "And it looks like a UFO! The real question is, how could you _not_ want to see it?"

"I didn't say I didn't want to see it," Artemis said, a wicked grin on her face. "Just that it was your idea. And it was."

Wally frowned. "We've talked about this. Using facts to win arguments isn't fair."

Artemis reached over and patted his cheek. "It's okay. I still --" She cut herself off, her hand dropping away from his face like it had been burned. "Could, um, you check which exit I'm supposed to take please?"

"Sure," Wally managed to say, feeling every bit as dazed as Artemis looked. He pulled out his phone and pulled up the saved directions. "167."

"Great," Artemis said, her voice tight. "Just great."

That about summed it up, Wally thought. Artemis always had had a way of cutting straight to the point. He just wished there hadn't been a point for her to cut to.

* * *

How could she have been so _stupid_?

Artemis berated herself for what felt like the 300th time despite the fact that it was impossible because they'd only been in line to ride to the top of the stupid Space Needle for fifteen minutes. She knew how she felt about Wally. She wasn't capable of deep enough denial to not know that she still loved the stupid bastard. That she'd probably always love him. But that didn't mean that _he_ needed to know that. If Wally knew how she felt -- and she was under no illusions that he hadn't been able to finish that particular sentence -- he would get ideas. She didn't want Wally to get ideas. When Wally got ideas, he did things that ended in her breaking both their hearts and Artemis wasn't living through that again. She didn't know if she could. 

Mid-reverie there was an arm at her elbow, tugging her forward and Artemis blinked the world back into focus. The line was moving, and she followed along blindly as Wally guided her onto the elevator, pulling her back into him to make space for others. His hands were warm at her waist and she could feel his breath against her neck, and oh, this was a terrible idea too.

"We shouldn't be doing this," she managed, her tongue darting out to wet her suddenly dry lips. "Wally, I --"

"Don't worry about it," he said. The elevator sprung to life under their feet and they went sky-rocketing up. She couldn't stop her fingers from curling around his or herself from leaning back into his chest. The elevator stopped. Wally was the one to let go first. It stung more than Artemis would have ever imagined. "See?" 

"Yes," Artemis said, stepping as far away as the crowded elevator would let her. It wasn't far enough. "I see."

* * *

She didn't see, Wally fumed as he watched her from across the observation deck. She couldn't. Because if she could look at him -- at them -- and come to whatever conclusion she'd jumped to, Artemis didn't see a damn thing. 

He didn't know if she couldn't or she didn't want to, but frankly, he didn't care. He just knew that it was about time she started. And if he had to take drastic measures to get her there, so be it.

Wally stalked his way to the other side of the platform, suppressing the desire to speed his way across it. He didn't know when, but that particular lesson of Barry's about discretion had finally sunk in. He didn't try to hide the fact that he was coming, didn't use any of the ninja tactics that Dick had tried to teach him over the years, and still Artemis stayed where she was. As far as signs went, there were worse ones that Wally could think of.

The moment he reached her side, Artemis started talking. "I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have snapped." She gave him a weak smile. "This whole... thing, has been weird. I'm still trying to get used to it. But that's not an excuse. So I'm sorry."

Wally felt himself deflate like a balloon. "Well, that's just not cool."

"What?"

"I had a whole angry speech planned. There were hand gestures. And now it's all completely pointless." Wally elbowed her in the side. "Thanks a lot."

The corners of her mouth turned up and she nodded with grave solemnity. "You could still give it. I probably deserve it."

"Nah," Wally said, leaning forward onto the rail in front of them. He nodded his head toward the skyline. "So what are we looking at?"

A laugh escaped Artemis before she could pull it back, and Wally grinned. She leaned down next to him on the rail. "I have no idea. We probably should have figured that out before we came up, huh?"

Wally shook his head. "This was is more fun. We can make up whatever stories we want."

Artemis wrinkled her nose. "I suck at stories, Wally. You know this. How many times did you try to get me to see shapes in the clouds?"

"First time for everything," he said. He pointed at the tallest building he could see. "You see that tower? It's where all the aliens that landed here on this thing live."

He droned on and on, making up nonsense, the lies getting bigger and bigger, the more Artemis laughed. Her laugh was like a drug and every time she did it he only wanted to hear it more. He told story after story until his throat was hoarse and the sky had started to get dark. 

They got back into the elevator together. As the crowd filed in around them, they pressed together like they had before. Wally's hand went to her hip. Her arms went around his waist. She looked up at him. He looked down at her. 

The elevator started to fall. 

"Artemis," he said, bending down so his mouth hovered over her ear. "Artemis, I--"

Her hand went to his mouth, as if that could really stop what was happening. As if anything could.

The elevator stopped. The doors opened.

Artemis lifted her hand from his mouth and looked at him warily, like a single wrong word would send her running in the opposite direction. Wally clamped down on everything he wanted -- needed -- to say, and stepped back, giving her his best pretend smile.

"How do you feel about baseball?" he asked.

* * *

Artemis wasn't sure what had happened. One minute they were standing in an elevator, having a moment (no matter how much she hadn't wanted it to be one, it was), and the next they were in the bleachers at a stupid baseball game and she didn't even _like_ baseball. She should have let Wally finish that sentence.

She snuck a look at his totally enthralled face. No, she shouldn't have.

She sighed, loudly. No reaction from Wally. She crossed her legs, being sure to brush them against Wally's as she did it. Still nothing. She was sort of offended. Wally fell for the leg thing every time.

She stood, ignoring the protests of the people sitting behind them. "I'm getting a beer," she announced.

Wally patted her on the knee, not taking his eyes off the field. "Can you get me one, too? Thanks, babe."

Artemis wasn't sure if she should be pissed he didn't say please or grateful that he hadn't asked her to buy out the snack bar. She decided on neither and headed for concessions. She paid for her overpriced beer and headed back to the seats, to find Wally had made fast friends with the people sitting behind them.

"Babe," he said. His face lit up at the sight of either her or the beer, Artemis wasn't sure which. "This is Joe and this is Dave."

"Hello," she said, trying not to sound short. After all, it wasn't their fault that Wally was an idiot. She passed him the cup. "Here."

With him, she made no such attempt.

His eyebrows went up under his baseball cap and he frowned. Apparently, he was capable of picking up on those types of signals. Who knew? "Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

She sat down and gave him a pointed look. "If you have to ask that question, don't you already know the answer?"

"Ohhhh-kay," Wally said. "I'm sorry? I will try not to do whatever it is that I did again in the future?" Come on, Artemis, throw a guy a bone."

Her mouth turned up into a smile despite herself. She took a drink to cover it up. "You're such a jerk."

Wally put one hand up to his mouth and mock whispered to his new friends. "That means I'm forgiven."

"It really doesn't," she said, elbowing him.

"Which of us has actually experienced you being mad at them again?" Wally asked, eyebrows raised. "I think this is one of those things where I actually do know what I'm talking about."

She made a face at him in lieu of retorting, since she couldn't, in good conscience, do so. She drank more beer instead.

"That's what I thought," Wally said, a satisfied smile on his face. "Anyway, what I was going to say before was that Joe suggested a hotel that we could stay at."

One of them -- Dave, Artemis thought -- leaned forward. "So, how long have you two been together?"

Wally coughed. Artemis felt her cheeks go hot.

"We're not," she said, when it became clear that Wally wasn't going to say anything. "Together, I mean."

"But you were."

There wasn't much that she could say in response to that. She opted to give Wally the evil eye instead.

He scratched the back of his neck, his face some combination of sadness and embarrassment that Artemis didn't want to think too closely about. "The hotel?" he prompted.

The other one spoke up. "There's a Best Western about a half mile away. Decent rates, not terrible rooms. Shouldn't be a problem to get one last minute."

"Great," Artemis said brightly. Too brightly. It sounded fake even to her own ears, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Wally wince. "Just great."

She turned back around in her seat and slumped down, determined to focus her attention on the small men on the field. Even baseball had to be better than this conversation.

* * *

Wally really didn't get what she was so mad about. Sure, he knew baseball wasn't her favorite sport, but still. Who could resist it once you were actually there? People who hated joy, that's who. And Dave hadn't meant anything by his question. Well, he probably had, but honestly, Wally didn't know what she expected. Six years of dating _showed_. If Artemis didn't want people to know, she should stop hitting him. Or at least that would be a start.

He snuck a glance at her. Her face had relaxed, and her toes tapped restlessly against the bleacher in front of them. The cup in her hands was nearly empty, and Wally wondered just how much the new found relaxation had to do with that.

"You really need to work on the whole staring thing," she said, not bothering to turn her head. "We've talked about this, Wally."

"You talked. I ignored you."

Artemis laughed, an unexpected burst of genuine amusement. "That explains so much about our relationship."

Wally grinned. Hey, at least she was admitting they _had_ a relationship. That was progress. He nodded his head toward her near empty glass. "You want another one? I'm buying."

"Sure," she said, still half laughing. "That'd be nice."

He gently pushed her legs to the side so that he could slide past her, but her arm shot out to grip his arm with her freakishly strong hands. "Wait," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. "Are you trying to get me drunk?"

He sighed. "Artemis. Have I _ever_ tried to get you drunk? And even if I have -- which I haven't -- I'm not sure I could. I've seen you drink grown men under the table. Or have you forgotten that Christmas party where Ollie and Barry stood up on the bar to serenade their wives with 'Take a Chance on Me'? Because I will never forget that. And I feel sad for you if you have."

"You mean the party where you decided that pretending to be Heath Ledger and reenacting _10 Things I Hate About You_ was a good idea?"

"We agreed never to talk about that again!" 

Artemis shrugged. "You're the one that brought the party up. That made it fair game."

"Fine," Wally grumbled. "I still blame Meg for that, by the way."

"Please," Artemis said, waving her hand dismissively. "Don't act like you and Dick didn't watch all of those movies looking for pointers." She looked back over her shoulder at Joe and Dave and leaned into Wally, her lips brushing up against his ear. "He might be a ninja and you might have superpowers, but _God_ , were you two the definition of obvious teenage boys."

He turned his head toward her, so that his lips were practically on hers. All he'd have to do is lean in just a little, just a fraction of an inch and ---

Artemis jumped back, clearly flustered. "Beer?" she demanded.

From behind them, Dave laughed. "What was that you said about not being together?"

"Beer," Wally agreed, and he pushed past her in search of it. 

God knew, he could use a drink too.

* * *

By the time they left the ballpark and checked into the hotel, Artemis's buzz was starting to fade. Normally she wouldn't have drunk so much at all, but the combination of the most boring sport in the world, total strangers giving her relationship advice, and Wally's existence were really too much for anyone to be able to handle without liquid courage. So she drank and she drank and she drank some more, and if it wasn't the night of her dreams, she'd settle for the fact that she hadn't done anything totally embarrassing.

"Hey," Wally said, looking over at her as he fought with the room key. "Thanks for this."

She frowned at him. Or maybe at his complete inability to navigate the lock. She reached over to take it from him, swiping it through gently and turning the lights green on her first try. "For what?"

"It's really not fair that you can do that," Wally complained, pushing the door open and waiting for her to push past him. 

She wiggled her free hand at him and flopped down on the closest bed. "It's just one of my many talents. I'm sure you remember."

"Yes," Wally said, his voice dropping low. "I remember."

Her throat went dry. This was uncomfortably close to the verbal foreplay they'd always been so good at. She propped herself up on her elbows. "You were thanking me for something?"

Wally blinked, his eyes darting up to hers. "Right," he said. He shrugged. "For going. For not kicking those dudes in the face. I know you wanted to. Next stop, we'll do something you want to do, I promise."

"If you want to make it up to me, you take the first shift driving tomorrow," Artemis said. She made a face at him. "Especially if we're still working on your insane schedule of leaving no later than seven. I don't think I'm going to be anywhere near conscious enough to get behind the wheel."

"Done," Wally said instantly. He looked past her to the alarm clock on the nightstand between the beds. He winced. "We should probably call it a night then. Or neither of us will be driving anywhere." 

He held out his hands and Artemis took them, letting him help her to her feet. He pulled too hard, and their bodies bumped up against each other in an all too familiar way. She felt Wally take a sharp breath, and it took all her self control not to do the same. 

Artemis dropped his hands and stepped back. "I'm just going to go get ready for bed," she said, hooking her thumb over her shoulder at the bathroom. "Give me ten minutes."

Wally offered her a tight smile. "Take your time," he said. 

"Right," she said, taking one step backwards and then another. "Right."

She scooped up her bag from the floor and shut the bathroom door behind her. She thumped her head against the door, hard.

The sooner they got the hell out of Seattle the better, she decided. For both their sakes. If they didn't leave soon there was no telling what would happen.

The worst part of it was that Artemis wasn't sure what she wanted anymore.

* * *

When the alarm went off at six, Wally got up and let Artemis sleep. He knew better than anyone what she was like when she was cranky from sleep deprivation, and nearly nine hours of uninterrupted driving wasn't something he wanted to start with a cranky Artemis. Wally liked his skin right where it was, thank you very much.

There was another reason that he didn't wake her up, too, a reason that he wasn't letting himself think about. Or at least he was trying not to let himself think about it. Because the simple fact of the matter was that Wally wasn't sure how much longer he could spend around her and not want to be more than just her friend. Or rather, not sure how much longer he could spend time around her and not _act_ like more than just her friend. Because he'd never wanted to be just that, not from the first time he'd looked at her when he was fifteen and realized that somewhere along the way he'd started to like this girl and how hot she was and how much he wanted to kiss her. He'd never stopped wanting to do that. 

Artemis was the one that had decided that. And he'd let her, because he didn't know what else he could do. But now, when she was close enough to reach out and touch nearly every second of every day, his self-control was hovering somewhere near zero.

Wally went running and then to buy donuts. He went back to the hotel and showered and packed, dawdling over coffee and food, staring at the flashing red numbers on the alarm clock, watching them tick down until he didn't have a choice but to wake her.

He swung his legs off his bed and leaned over to touch her shoulder. "Artemis?" he said, his voice pitched low enough not to scare her, but loud enough that he knew she'd hear him. When it came to waking Artemis, Wally knew that no sudden movements were key. If there were sudden movements, you risked emergency room visits and broken noses. He wasn't in the mood to explain metabolically enhanced healing to any doctors today. "Artemis, you have to get up."

Artemis buried her head deeper in her pillow and made a noise that sounded something like the word no. 

Wally choked off a laugh and tried again. He shook her shoulder a little. "C'mon, Artemis. I have coffee. And donuts. There's one with chocolate sprinkles that has your name on it..."

She raised her head off the pillow just a little, but it was enough to make her speak actually intelligible. "Chocolate?"

"Chocolate," Wally confirmed. He pushed her hair back off her forehead without thinking, tucking it back behind her ear. He jerked his hand back, as if burned. "All you have to do is get out of bed."

Her mouth turned down into a pout. "You could bring them here," she said, taking his hand in hers and tucking it under her head. "Please?"

And there went Wally's self-control all the way down to zero. He stood, disentangling himself from her clinging hands. "Nope," he said, proud of the way his voice didn't waver. "Up and at 'em. Coffee, shower, donuts. And then it's just you and me and the open highway, babe."

He saw the exact moment that what she'd asked penetrated, because she bolted straight up in the bed, her eyes wide. "Right," she said, her voice strangled. "Just you and me. Can't wait."

Wally turned back to the donuts and just like last night, Artemis bolted for the bathroom. He heard a thump that could only be her head hitting the door, and allowed himself to smile.

There was some comfort in knowing that he wasn't the only one suffering. Maybe that made him a terrible person, but Wally had never claimed to be a saint. He chose a bear claw and took an enormous bite. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

Two hours of empty highway and Artemis pretending to sleep later, and Wally was willing to admit that he'd been wrong earlier. Today _sucked_ and he had no problem admitting it. He shifted his eyes to the side. Her eyes were so open when he wasn't looking.

"Hey, Artemis?" he said, turning back to the road like he hadn't been looking at her five seconds before. "You awake over there?"

His question was followed by a well faked yawn and some gratuitous stretching that Wally was almost sure she was doing to torture him. "What time is it?" she asked. 

Wally tried not to roll his eyes. "Oh, around nine thirty. You up to some driving?"

He could feel her eyes on him, her coolly appraising stare. "Getting bored?"

He gave her his most charming grin. "You know me too well."

Artemis laughed and stretched her arms over her head again. "I do," she said, but she said it with more affection than he'd heard in months and Wally wondered if he'd been wrong about the faking sleep thing. It was the kind of thing she only said when she hadn't had the time to think about whether or not she should know better. "So sure, I'll drive. That way we won't run into a moose or something."

"Do they have moose in Idaho?" Wally asked. "Or mooses? Just what _is_ the plural of moose?"

"I believe it's _I could give a shit_ ," Artemis said, with a laugh. She reached over to ruffle his hair. "You've clearly been spending too much time around Dick if you're mulling etymology and plurals."

He gave her another sideways glance of the _how are you and what have you done with my ex-girlfriend_ variety. He couldn't remember the last time she'd done that. "Uh, Artemis?"

"Yeah?"

"You feeling okay?"

She frowned. "Of course I am. Why?"

Wally shook his head. "No reason. No reason at all."

"Okay, weirdo." She pointed at the upcoming exit sign. "There's a gas station at that one. Pull over and we'll switch."

"Whatever you say," Wally said, switching lanes so he could get off the highway. 

Maybe he'd reconsidered the whole good day thing too soon.

* * *

Artemis hummed along with the radio, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel in time with the radio. She was in a good mood. She had no idea why. It went against every bit of her makeup not to question it, but hey, maybe trying new things wasn't so bad. She was trying this trip after all. And so far there hadn't been any bloodshed. Maybe change really was possible.

She snuck a look at Wally, who was bent over his phone, thumbs flying over the screen. Texting Dick, she assumed. Those two were worse than a couple of high school girls sometimes.

"Say hi for me," she said. 

Wally's head snapped up, a guilty expression on his face. Busted. "Um, what?"

She rolled her eyes. "Dick. Say hi. Because if you're texting anyone else right now, I will eat that phone."

He grinned at her, sheepishly. He sent another text and two seconds later his phone was vibrating again. "He says hi too and all that."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "And all that?" she repeated back to him. "Just what was in that text?"

Wally's cheeks turned pink. Or really, more like bright red, since the whole redhead thing meant he had no chance of ever concealing a blush in his life. "Nothing," he said, the word coming out on a squeak. He shoved his phone into his pocket. "Just Dick being Dick."

"I believe I'm familiar with the concept," Artemis said, stifling a laugh. 

She didn't care what Dick had said, not really. But torturing Wally like this was fun. In all of the _sturm und drang_ and _feelings_ of the last few days, she'd forgotten that part somehow. That Wally was fun. That she was fun when she was with him. That she _liked_ being with him and that there wasn't anyone that she liked being with more in the world.

Fingers snapped in front of her face.

She blinked back into focus and batted the offending hand away. "I'm driving here," she snapped. "Are you trying to get us killed?"

"No, but you might be," Wally said. "You completely zoned out. Are you okay? Do you need me to drive for awhile?"

Artemis shook her head slowly. He was right. "No," she said. "I'm fine. I was... I was just thinking."

"It looked painful," Wally said. He screwed up his face into what Artemis could only assume was supposed to be an imitation of hers. "That's why I try not to do it."

"Think?" 

Wally nodded. "Anyway, so what were you thinking about so intently that you almost killed us?"

"I did not almost kill us," Artemis said, frowning at him. "But -- if you must know -- you."

Wally blinked, a look of stunned surprise on his face. "I can't possibly have heard you right," he said finally. "Because you don't say things like that to me. Not anymore, anyway."

She did her best to hold back her wince. She knew how right he was. "Well, I was," she said. "And if you must know, I was thinking that I was having fun. With you. And that I was glad that I'm here. With you." She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Now can we drop it?"

"Sure," Wally said, his voice sounding strangled. "No problem."

For the next six hours, the only sound in the car was the radio and the sound of Wally's phone vibrating furiously with text messages. It was the opposite of fun.

* * *

When Artemis pulled into the parking lot of the Residence Inn in Boise, the only thing she could safely say that she was tired. She was tired of being confused, tired of being mad at Wally for reasons she couldn't even identify, tired of everything. She shut the car off and turned to Wally. Before she could even open her mouth he was talking.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said. "Today sucked, we can both agree on that, right?"

She nodded, too weary to do anything else.

"So let's pretend it didn't happen. We'll check in, go find a place to eat, and then I'll take you to see the most ridiculous football field in the country." He gave her his most winsome smile. "Please?"

She couldn't help the half-laugh that escaped. She wanted it to be that simple, she did. But it wasn't and maybe it was time they faced it. "Wally, I don't know."

"Come on," he said, a note of pleading creeping into his voice. "What's the worst that can happen? We already lived six hours of incredibly uncomfortable silence. Do you really think it can get worse than that?"

A real laugh came out then, and Wally grinned in response. "Now you're just tempting fate," she said. "You know that, right?"

His grin got deeper. "You know what you're daring me to do, don't you?" He hummed a few bars of "The Gambler". "Don't make me sing, Artemis. We both know that you don't like me when I sing."

"Anything but that," she said. She gave an exaggerated sigh. "Fine, you win. Is this plan of yours going to require more breaking and entering?"

"Of course!" he said, with a wink. "Don't say I never took you anywhere nice."

Artemis shook her head as she laughed. "I would never."

* * *

It was almost dark by the time they stood outside the stadium. Wally could see the skeptical expression Artemis's face even before she turned to him.

"So just what about this place is so terrible?" she asked. "Because if it's not actually terrible, I'm going to be pretty disappointed."

Wally shook his head. "Seriously, you went to USC. How did the whole concept of football just pass you by? It makes me sad for you, Artemis. It really does."

She made a face at him. "Some of us had better things to do with our time."

"But there's hitting! You like hitting."

She proved his point, by elbowing him in the side, but Wally was a big enough person to let it pass.

" _Anyway_ ," he said, "I'm not going to tell you. If you don't know already, then I'm sure as hell not going to ruin the surprise."

"Just tell me," Artemis said. She tried her best to make a puppy dog face, but failed miserably in the attempt. Wally considered not laughing to be an act of self-preservation. "Please?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Now come on, we have a fence to scale."

"Fine," she said. "But seriously, this had better be worth it."

Wally watched her scamper up the fence, her jeans pulled tight against her ass. "Believe me, it already is," he said under his breath.

And then he went to climb the fence behind her.

* * *

"It's blue."

Wally grinned at the disbelief in her voice. "Yep."

"Blue."

"Yes."

" _Why_ "

Wally spread his hands wide and shrugged. "You'd have to ask them. And why they think that wearing all blue uniforms on it is a good _or_ fair idea."

"Blue," she said again, and shuddered. "I'd always liked blue before this. But on a football field? No." She shook her head. "This is wrong."

"It's an abomination," he corrected. She looked at him, one eyebrow arched. He shrugged again. "What? If ever there was a time to show off my 800 critical reading SAT score, this would be it, wouldn't it?" He pointed at the field. "Just _look_ at that. I'm not sure words actually exist to describe how terrible it is."

"Point taken," Artemis said. She toed off her shoes and started running onto the field. "Race you to the 50-yard line!"

"Really?" he called after her, shaking his head at her back. "You really want to do this?" 

She didn't turn around and Wally kicked off his own converse. "You'll regret this!" he yelled, and then he started running.

It wasn't even a contest. He pulled up at mid-field ten seconds before she did and that was with her head start. "Why do you do that?" he scolded. "You know that it never ends well -- oof."

His breath whooshed out of him when she tackled him to the turf. He should have seen that coming. He'd only known her for how many years? 

"You were saying?" she said, grinning down at him.

"Mean," he said. He reached up to tug on her hair and she batted his hand away. "How would you like it if I did that?"

Artemis snorted. "As if you ever would."

Wally honestly wasn't sure if he should be offended by that. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She rolled her eyes and rolled off of him onto her back. "Don't get bent out of shape. Just that you're you and that I'm _me_ and a girl and no matter how many times or ways I've kicked your ass, that you'd never do anything that would even resemble coming at me first."

He frowned and turned on his side, propping himself up on his elbow so that he was facing her. "You say that like it's a bad thing. Like not wanting to hit girls who aren't trying to kill me is _bad_."

She shook her head and rolled over so that she was mimicking his position. "I knew you'd take it wrong. It's not bad, Wally. You wouldn't be _you_ if you'd do that." She looked away, at some unidentifiable spot over his shoulder. "And, you know, I like who you are, so why would I want that to change?"

His breath caught in chest and he was shaking his head before he even realized he was doing it. "You can't do that," he said. "It's not fair."

She wouldn't meet his eyes, so he reached out to catch her chin in his hand and make her look at him. "It's not fair," he repeated. "You can't say things like that and not expect me to want to --"

She leaned forward and closed the space between them, effectively cutting off the rest of what he was going to say. Not that he minded, or even remembered the rest of what it was, because after nearly five months of missing Artemis's mouth it was on his and he really couldn't bring himself to care about anything else. 

His arms went around her and he rolled over onto his back, dragging her on top of him. Their legs tangled together and they kissed and kissed and kissed, and it was only a pressing need for oxygen that made him tear his lips away. 

"Artemis," he gasped, his hands clutching at her hips. "Artemis, what're we doing?"

Instantly he wanted the words back, because she scrambled off of him and onto her feet. "I shouldn't have done that," she said, stricken. "Wally, I'm sorry."

And that made him mad. He stood, too, unable to stop himself from crowding her. "Why are you sorry?" he pressed. "I wanted that. _You_ wanted that. Why is it so wrong that we did it?"

She shook her head. "It'll just confuse things," she said. "I don't want to give you false hope here, Wally. I don't want to make you think that we're getting back together when we're --"

That was as much as he could stand to hear and he walked away from her, leaving her standing alone on the blue turf. Walking away was the only thing left to do.

That didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell.

* * *

If six hours of silence was uncomfortable, eight was interminable. By the time they got to Vegas the next night, both of their nerves were shot. The history was too much, sitting too close, and the only thing they agreed on was needing time apart to consider what would happen next. 

Which was, of course, why they found Dick waiting for them in the room Wally booked the Bellagio. Artemis supposed that given the _Ocean's 11_ fantasies that dick and Wally shared, it was only natural. 

Because really, what their trip needed, Artemis thought to herself as she dropped her bags in disgust, was Dick Grayson.

"Hey, guys," Dick said, grinning at them. "Did you miss me?"

"No," Wally said, shortly, and he disappeared into the bathroom without another word. Which meant that Artemis got the full brunt of Dick's inquisitive stare, and she just was not in the mood.

"What are you doing here?" she asked with a sigh. "I mean, it's not that I'm not happy to see you -- well, actually, I'm _not_ \-- but for once that's not your fault. It's just not a good time."

"Trouble in paradise?" Dick asked. He shook his head. "I should have known something was up when Wally stopped sending me annoyingly happy text messages. What happened?"

Artemis held up her hand to ward him off. "Sorry, no." She flopped down on the closest bed and closed her eyes. "Take that up with Wally."

"Hey," Dick said. She felt him sit down on the bed next to her, his weight depressing the mattress. He touched her shoulder. "I'm your friend too, Artemis."

She cracked an eye open and gave him her best disbelieving look. But he looked so sincere that she sighed again. "I know you are. Just -- not when it comes to me and Wally. You can't be. You have to be his friend."

"I could be both of your friends if you'd just get out of your own way and be together," Dick muttered. Artemis shot him another disbelieving look. He shrugged. "Zatanna."

"Ah," Artemis said, weighting the single syllable with as much meaning as she could. "And how is Zatanna?"

Dick made a face. "I don't want to talk about it."

"And yet when _I_ said that..."

"Fine," Dick said. He held out his hand. "Détente?"

Artemis shook his hand. "Agreed."

The door to the bathroom opened and out stepped Wally. "Hey," he said to Dick. He looked at Artemis. "I'm sorry."

She bunched the comforter up in her fists. "You have nothing to be sorry for," she said, doing her best to keep her voice neutral. She nodded her head toward Dick as discreetly as she could. "Okay?"

Wally nodded, his features tense. "Okay."

"You could just pretend I'm not here," Dick said. "You know, if you need to talk."

"Please," Wally snorted. "Do we look stupid to you?"

"Actually --"

"Let's eat," Artemis said, sitting up. "Right now. Wally?"

He shrugged. "I could eat."

"You can _always_ eat," Dick pointed out. "But fine, I'm willing to roll with the change of subject. It's the least I can do since I'm crashing your road trip."

"Yeah," Artemis said, ushering them both towards the door. "And about that... It goes without saying that you're buying, right?"

Dick shot Wally a wary look. "How do you two feel about buffets?"

Wally grinned the first real grin that Artemis had seen all day.

* * *

If there was a divine being, Artemis was sure they'd agree that an hour and a half of watching Wally eat while Dick _and_ Wally geeked out about heist movies was more than enough penance for whatever sins she'd committed. 

"I'm just going to... go," she said, hooking her thumb back at the buffet. The moron twins didn't even spare her a glance. Artemis rolled her eyes and headed for the desserts.

She wandered down the line, her mouth watering. Deciding between the raspberry chocolate mousse and the coffee tiramisu was excruciating. She settled on the tiramisu and grabbed a couple of chocolate covered strawberries for good measure. 

Food in hand, Artemis started back for the table. She stopped, looked over at Dick and Wally, and headed back to the buffet. The least she could do was bring them dessert. To thank Dick for dinner and for helping to make things less awkward between her and Wally. She hadn't been thrilled to see him, but it had undeniably helped. Then again, so had the mountain of food, so maybe she didn't have anything to thank Dick for after all. 

But she definitely owed Wally apology cheesecake. If she were being honest with herself, Artemis would admit that she owed him a lot more than that, but right now wasn't a time for honesty. Right now was a time for goodness on a plate.

One slice of cheesecake, one macaroon, and her own dessert later, Artemis rejoined the boys. She silently set the desserts down in front of them and took her seat. She waited.

Wally was the first to notice. "Cheesecake!" he exclaimed, his fork in his hand in a blink of an eye. He looked over at Artemis. "Did you --?"

Artemis nodded, not sure why she was suddenly trying to fight back a blush. "No big deal." She nodded towards Dick, who was already inhaling the macaroon she'd brought him. "I figured since I was up --" 

Words failed her, and so she shrugged and her hair fell in a curtain around her face.

"Hey," Wally said, reaching over to tuck her hair back behind her ear. He turned her chin just slightly so that she couldn't help but look at him. He was staring at her with the same focused intensity that made it feel like he knew her inside and out, and it was too much. His thumb brushed over her cheek, and she couldn't stop the shiver that ran through her entire body. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she said, trying to make the two words mean everything that she'd wanted to say to him for the last day and for every day since they'd been apart. She knew it wouldn't work, that it was impossible for any two words to mean that much, but --

"So, Artemis," Dick said, cutting into her reverie. "When are you going to do all of us a favor and take Wally back? Because I gotta tell you, looking at the two of you? I can't see a single good reason why you're not together."

And just like that the spell was broken.

Wally's hand dropped from her face and he bent over his cheesecake like it was the last piece of cheesecake he'd ever see. Artemis avoided Dick's eyes and toyed with her tiramisu, trying to think of what she could say.

Sick of feeling Dick's eyes boring into her, she settled on, "It's not that simple."

"But why?" Dick asked. Artemis chanced looking up at his face and he seemed genuinely baffled. "Look, we all know that he loves you. And you certainly seem like you're still in love with him. People who are in love should be together."

Artemis raised an eyebrow at him. "And what was it that you were telling me the other day about Zatanna and a Jean-Paul?"

Dick frowned at her. "That's completely different and you know it."

"It is," Artemis admitted, sneaking a glance at Wally. He'd finished his cheesecake and was staring at some spot over Dick's shoulder. His jaw was tight and his face unreadable. She remembered when he hadn't been that way, when every thought and feeling was written plainly on his face. She'd done that to him. It was her fault. She looked back at Wally. "But it's hard to explain."

"No," Wally said then, turning to look at her with accusation in his eyes. "It's really not."

"Well, is it or isn't it?" Dick asked, his eyes darting back and forth between them like a ping pong ball. "You have me on the edge of my seat here. And I mean that literally."

"Shut up, Dick," they both said in unison, not taking their eyes off each other.

"Okay, okay," Dick said. Artemis was sure he was holding his hands up in surrender, but she didn't dare look away from Wally. "But one of you is going to have to tell me. I'm not allowed back in the Cave until I find out. And that means _both_ Caves, so I'm sure you understand my vested interest."

"Why don't you tell him, Artemis?" Wally asked, his voice utterly flat. "Since it was your idea and all."

"Wally," she said, licking her lips nervously. "Wally, I don't think that this is the right time --"

"It is," Wally said, rising to his feet. "Because I'm sick of this. You want to talk, you know where to find me."

Without another word, Wally was gone.

Artemis dropped her head into her hands and tried to breathe. Why couldn't she breathe? It wasn't like he'd said anything that wasn't true or that she hadn't been expecting this fight, she just wasn't ready for it _now_ , she didn't have any defenses against it and --

"Are you going to eat that?" Dick asked.

Artemis looked up to find him pointing his fork at her half-eaten tiramisu. She passed the plate over to him.

Dick took a forkful of cake and brought it to his mouth. "So," he said after he'd eaten it. "Why don't you tell me what Wally's talking about, Artemis?"

She tried desperately to think of a way out of it, to think of any alternative, but there weren't any choices left. She started talking

"I spent Christmas Eve at the Wests..."

* * *

_The thing Artemis never remembered about spending holidays with the Wests was how_ loud _they were. Between both sides of the family and the Garricks, there were only fourteen people in the house, but when you were used to family gatherings that could be counted on one hand, fourteen was a lot._

_Especially when one of them was Wally._

_Artemis watched him play on the floor with Dawn and Don, endlessly stacking blocks that one or the other or both of the twins would knock over gleefully. While he stacked, he switched back and forth between inhaling Christmas cookies and talking spring training with Jay. He just looked so damn happy, there, in the middle of his family, and it made Artemis smile foolishly at him._

_How the hell had she ended up here, with him, with someone so hopelessly domesticated at the ripe old age of 22? She didn't have the slightest idea, but she was pretty happy that it had happened._

_"Penny," Wally said, and Artemis blinked._

_"What?" she asked, confused as to what she'd missed. That was what she got for daydreaming. She knew better, she did, but Wally just made it so damn easy sometimes._

_"I asked what you were thinking about," Wally said, leaning in to kiss her neck. He grazed over just the right place and Artemis shuddered. She looked down at him and there was a smug smile on his face. "Me, I hope."_

_If she'd ever have been tempted to tell him the truth, that pretty much decided against it. Wally did not need help in the ego department, that was for damn sure. "I was thinking about how cold my feet were," she improvised. And hey, it wasn't a total lie. Her feet_ were _cold. "Can I steal a pair of socks?"_

_"Am I ever going to get them back?" Wally asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "Don't think I don't know where my Royals jersey went, babe."_

_"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said. She bent down to kiss him, unable to stop herself. She meant it as a quick, teasing kiss, but she found herself lingering over it, drawing it out. When she drew back, Wally's eyes were glazed over and she was nearly certain she was in the same condition. "Socks?" she whispered, her mouth still hovering over his._

_Wally swallowed, hard. "You know where they are."_

_Artemis kissed him again, this time with the brevity that she'd meant the first time around. "Back in a second," she said, pushing herself to her feet. She took the stairs two at a time and walked to the last door on the right._

_Wally's room was a mess. It was always a mess, but Artemis was sure that he'd been under strict orders to clean it up before company arrived. That he hadn't listened wasn't the surprise, but that he hadn't been_ caught _was. Mrs. West was usually more thorough than that._

_She picked her way across the room until she got to Wally's dresser. She pulled open the top drawer where he kept his socks and reached in. What her hand closed around was decidedly not socks._

_Her hand shook when she pulled it out of the drawer and when she turned her hand over to look at what it held. A small, black velvet box sat in the palm of her hand and Artemis knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what it had to contain. Still, she flipped the lid of the box open, and there it sat, just like she'd known that it would._

_An engagement ring._

_A_ beautiful _engagement ring. Her fingers traced over the filigreed band, and the diamond set deep within it. It looked old, like an heirloom. She wondered which of his grandmothers it had belonged to, and how Wally had come into it. Her fingers traced over it again, and she_ wanted. __

 _She shook her head and snapped the box shut. No. She didn't want a ring, she didn't_ need _a ring, or what it represented. She was happy the way things were. Everything was_ great _the way things were. Better than great. Fantastic. Nothing needed to change. Things could just stay the way that they were and they'd keep on being happy and nothing needed to change. Ever._

_"Babe?"_

_Wally's voice echoed up through the hall and Artemis panicked. She dropped the box back in the drawer and grabbed some socks, slamming the drawer shut. She was just sitting down on the bed to tug them on when Wally appeared in the door._

_"Hey," he said, a wide smile on his face as if he didn't know that her entire world had just changed. "Did you get lost or something?"_

_She shrugged, trying for nonchalant. "Do you know how hard it was to find socks that didn't have holes in them? I think I should take your Christmas present back and buy you socks instead."_

_"Don't you dare," Wally said, and then he was next to her on the bed. He leaned in to kiss her neck, just like he had downstairs before -- well, before_ it _\-- and she let him, thinking that this would be the easy answer. The easiest way to forget. His lips trailed up her throat to her ear, and when he spoke again, his breath ghosted over it. "Unless, of course, you want me to take_ your _present back, too."_

_"No," she said, and turned her head to kiss him._

_Her mouth moved over his urgently, deeply, as if kissing him was the answer to all the questions that she hadn't known existed until five minutes ago. He kissed her back just as eagerly, pressing her back into his mattress the way he'd done hundreds of times in the last six years. His hands slid beneath her sweater and she arched against them, desperate for his touch._

_"Wally!"_

_Mrs. West's voice shattered the moment. Wally's hands fell to the mattress with a groan and he levered himself up off her. She stayed where she was, lying flat on the mattress._

_Wally leaned down to kiss her quickly, and then tugged her up with him. "Rain check?" he asked._

_Artemis did her best to smile at him. "Rain check," she agreed, and Wally gave her a wide smile before pulling her down the hall and back into the melee._

_But for the rest of the night, all Artemis could think about was that damned ring._

* * *

Artemis paused, eyeing Dick warily for any sort of reaction.

Dick was staring back at her with narrowed eyes. There was a look of intense concentration mixed with triumph on his face, like he'd just figured out the solution to a particularly difficult puzzle. He wasn't surprised. For some reason, she had expected surprise.

"Well?" she asked, unable to bear the silence any longer.

"New Year's," Dick said, succinctly.

"Yes," Artemis said. Even to her own ears, she sounded too short and she winced. This wasn't Dick's fault. No need to take it out on him. "New Year's."

* * *

_New Year's Eve at the Cave was_ the _team tradition. M'gann threw a party, the rest of them came and if they didn't like it, that was too bad. No excuse short of death or dismemberment was good enough to get out of attending, and most of them believed that in the case of dismemberment, M'gann would just shift the party to the infirmary._

_That Artemis had actually given self-dismemberment serious consideration was a sign of just how little she wanted to be at the party._

_It wasn't M'gann's or the party's fault, Artemis knew that. Objectively, it was a pretty great party. Red Tornado was acting as DJ and the makeshift dance floor was filled with current and former team members, as well as a couple Justice Leaguers who didn't seem to be aware that they were really too old to be hanging out with a bunch of teenagers. There was food and thankfully there was alcohol and plenty of dark corners for people to sneak off into whenever the mood struck, but still. Artemis just wasn't in the mood._

_And she could pretend like she didn't know why, but what was the point? The reason why was standing across the room shooting worried daggers into her back as he talked with Dick about god knew what. Probably her and why she'd been hiding from him all week. If she were in Wally's position, Artemis couldn't deny that she'd be wondering what the hell was going on. When you got right down to it, she was wondering the same thing herself._

_Out of the corner of her eye, Artemis spotted Zatanna barreling towards her at full speed. She could try to hide, but really, there was no point. Zatanna would probably magic her location or something and they'd end up having this conversation anyway. Better to get it over with quickly._

_"You're alive," Zatanna said, once she finally reached Artemis. "I was beginning to wonder."_

_"Hi, Zee. Nice to see you too. How was your Christmas?"_

_"It was_ excellent _and don't change the subject," Zatanna said sternly. "Where have you been all week? I --" she waved her hand around the room "--we have been worried sick."_

_"That's a very M'gann thing to say," Artemis pointed out. "Or a Wally thing. Did he tell you what to ask me?"_

_Zatanna huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "You say that like I wouldn't have worried about you without prompting."_

_"You wouldn't sound like a ninety-year old grandmother when doing it," Artemis said. "You spend too much time with Nightwing to do that."_

_"True," Zatanna conceded. She peeked over her shoulder at the boys, who seemed to have inched closer since the last time Artemis had checked on them. Wally wore the same worried expression, though, and Artemis was pretty sure that meant that her reprieve was almost up. Zatanna turned back to Artemis, biting her lip. "But really, are you okay? It's not like you to bail on us over Christmas break like this. Not when we get to see so little of each other during the semester."_

_A knot of guilt wedged itself in Artemis's stomach. "I know," she said. "I just wasn't feeling up to it."_

_It wasn't a lie, she told herself. Like that made it okay._

_"Are you sure?" Zatanna asked. "Because Artemis, you can tell me --"_

_"There's my girl," Wally said, his voice overly bright and just the slightest bit slurred. Artemis looked at him worriedly. If Wally was even the slightest bit drunk, that meant that he'd had enough to drink anyone who wasn't a Kryptonian under the table and that wasn't like him at all. He slung his arm around her shoulders and nuzzled at her neck. "Hey, babe."_

_"Hey," Artemis answered. She avoided looking at Dick and Zatanna._

_This was going to be an extremely long night._

* * *

"You know, Wally and I aren't actually old women," Dick said, frowning at her. "We do, occasionally, talk about things that have nothing to do with our personal lives."

Artemis snorted. "You forget just how much time I've spent around the two of you. And besides, I wasn't going for old woman, I was going for teenage girl. Zatanna and I never gossiped as much of the two of you did and still do."

"I'm going to go ahead and ignore that," Dick said, still frowning, "because that's the kind of magnanimous guy that I am. But you're wrong about that night, you know. Wally never said a word about what was going on. Just that he was worried about you. And since we all were, that wasn't exactly news."

Artemis smiled, sadly. "That's because he didn't _know_."

* * *

_It was nearly midnight. The cave's computer started counting the time back, and Artemis sought Wally in the crowd. He stood half the room away, his eyes scanning through the crowd, she could only assuming looking for her._

_Their eyes caught._

_Artemis started toward him, and Wally started toward her. They met in the middle, and the computer reached three._

_She wrapped her arms around his neck, stretching up to his ear. "I love you," she said, loud enough for only him to hear. "Please know that." She drew back, and caught a glimpse of the confusion on Wally's face._

_"Artemis," he said._

_"One," said the computer._

_She kissed him, cutting off whatever else he wanted to say. The crowd, the noise, all of it faded away until all that was left was the two of them. Wally's arms held her so tight against his chest that she almost couldn't breathe, like he was trying to keep her there, with him, forever. She kissed him with all the love she had for him, and knew that she would never be able to tell him enough._

_Then there were hands tugging them apart, and Dick's voice saying "You know you guys_ have _a room." A kiss on her cheek from Dick and another from Conner. Hugs from Zatanna and Meg, people, bodies, taking her further and further away from Wally._

_When she looked back, Artemis couldn't see him at all._

* * *

"Okay, but that was New Year's. You still haven't explained how you got from freaked out but we nearly needed a crowbar to pry you two apart to a break up that none of us understands," Dick said. He sounded nearly as frustrated as Artemis felt, and it took an inordinate amount of willpower not to snap at him.

"Yes, well, imagine how Wally felt," she said instead. "We kiss, it's great, and then just like that I'm gone. Because that's what happened, Dick. I left."

She took a breath, steeling herself for what she was going to say next.

"And then Wally came after me."

* * *

_Wally was waiting for her in the hall when she got back from the market. Her hand clutched tighter around the canvas strap and she stared. She'd expected this, somewhere in the back of her mind, but she hadn't thought it would be so soon. She wasn't ready. She needed more time to think, to explain what was going on in her head to herself, never mind explaining it to him. She wondered, fleetingly, if her ice cream was melting._

_He pushed off the wall, but didn't step closer. "You're okay," he said, as if it weren't a question but a statement that he needed to make to assure himself that it was true. "I was worried."_

_Artemis winced. Three words, said without the slightest accusation, were more effective than a thousand slaps. "I'm sorry," she said, her nails digging into her palm. "I didn't mean -- I mean, I didn't think that you -- "_

_"That I would?" Wally interrupted her. He shook his head, a look of utter confusion on his face. "On what planet wouldn't I be worried, Artemis?" Now he stepped closer, anger practically vibrating off him. "You left. Actually, you disappeared. You didn't tell anyone you were going, or where --" he broke off, grabbing at her shoulders, looking for all the world like he wanted to shake her, but he was Wally and he wouldn't ever do that "-- Artemis,_ why _?"_

_Wally's eyes were so very green staring back at her, anger and upset and confusion, and the words rose to her lips without her consent. "I found the ring!" She immediately wanted them back. She hadn't meant to say it like that, in her hallway with melting ice cream, and she'd give anything to not be doing this. She didn't dare look at him. "Can't we do this inside?"_

_Artemis didn't wait for an answer, but shook off his hands, and pushed past him to her door. Her hands didn't shake when she turned the key in the lock, and she wondered what that said about her. Shouldn't her hands have been shaking? Shouldn't she be more visibly upset? The door fell open and she went in without waiting to see if Wally would follow. She knew that he would. She didn't know what he'd say next._

_She headed straight back to the kitchen and put the groceries away. With the last bit of avoidance she could manage out of the way, she turned to face him, dreading what she'd see._

_But Wally didn't look mad. Or upset. He looked confused, which seemed completely unfair. She'd been the one to find the ring. Shouldn't confusion be hers? She raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to speak, and since Wally had never in his life been able to back down from a dare, he did._

_"You found the ring," he repeated back to her, running his hands through his hair so it stood on end. "Where? And when?"_

_She frowned at him. How could he not get this? "Christmas Eve. In your sock drawer. There was an engagement ring there, Wally, or are you going to pretend that it wasn't yours?"_

He held up a hand. "You don't get to be the one angry in this conversation, Artemis. You aren't the one that's been kept in the dark for over a week about something so stupid _." He let out a short laugh. "That's what this whole thing has been about? Why the hell didn't you just ask me?"_

_"I was afraid that you were going to propose, Wally! Why the hell would I practically hand write you an invitation to do it?"_

_He stared at her for a long moment, disbelief on his face. "You were_ afraid _? Please tell me I heard you wrong, Artemis."_

_She dropped her eyes to the chipped formica of the kitchen counter. She'd deny it if she could, but he'd know if she was lying. She shook her head._

_He was at her side in a second, forcing her chin up. "Why were you afraid? Am I that scary? Is the idea of spending the rest of your life with me really that terrible?"_

_"_ No _," she said, as forcefully as she could, because god, he looked so hurt and she'd do anything she could to make that go away. "Never."_

__

_"Then why?"_

_The words echoed in the air between them, and for the first time in longer than she could remember, Artemis wanted to cry. It wasn't supposed to be like this. This wasn't right. She loved Wally more than she'd ever thought she was capable of loving someone, and the idea of spending the rest of their lives shouldn't have sat on her chest like it was a hundred pound weight, but it did. She didn't know why. And she didn't know how to make this better._

_"I don't know," she whispered finally. "I'm sorry."_

_Wally laughed again, bitterly this time. He stepped away and began to pace, his laps getting faster and faster until he was a blur before her eyes. She watched him, wanting more than anything to reach out and touch him, but her hands stayed stubbornly at her sides. Maybe she wasn't allowed anymore, maybe she'd never be allowed ever again._

_When he finally skidded to a stop at her feet, he looked defeated. "You know," he said slowly, "you know what the worst part of this is? I wasn't going to propose, Artemis, at least not then. My Grandma West gave me the ring earlier in the day because it didn't fit her anymore and she wanted me to have it. So I stashed it in my drawer, because what else was I going to do with it? And yeah, I'd be lying if I told you that I hadn't thought about it. We've been dating for_ six years _. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I know that. But I wasn't going to ask." He shook his head, with a sadder look on his face than she'd ever seen before. "Just the_ idea _of me asking did this. What would you have done if actually had?"_

_She stared at him, horror growing in the pit of her stomach. "Wally," she started, "Wally, I --"_

_He held up a hand. "Don't."_

_"Don't what?" she asked, anger kicking in behind all the other emotions swirling through her. "Don't try to explain? To defend myself? I'm sorry I didn't grow up in a perfect family with perfect parents who loved me and set a good example of what marriage is like. I'm sorry that I'm not you, Wally. But you knew that when you fell in love with me. I can't stop being me because your Midwestern has kicked in and you want to get married and have 2.5 kids and a dog and a house in the suburbs. I can't do that and you can't ask it of me."_

_"But I didn't!" he yelled, the anger erupting from him like a volcano. His face was red and he almost shook with repressed emotion. "I didn't ask you to do any of that!"_

_"But it's what you want!" she yelled back. "It was always going to be what you want and I don't know if I can give you that. I love you, Wally, but I don't know how to be that person."_

_And suddenly everything became clear to her. That was what she was afraid of, that she'd do this and take this leap that scared her, and that he'd change his mind. It wasn't a rational fear, she knew that. Wally wasn't like that, Wally wouldn't do that, but it hadn't stopped anyone else in her life from leaving her and she couldn't live through it again. She'd lived through her mother and her father and Jade, but Wally? She couldn't do it._

_They stared at each other for what felt like forever._

_Wally spoke first. "So that I'm not asking you for that, that I don't want you to be anyone but who you are, that doesn't matter at all? Is that what you're saying?"_

_"_ No _," she said. "But I don't know how to not be afraid that what you'll want will change."_

_"Which leaves us where? How do we get past this, Artemis? Please, tell me how we do that."_

_"I don't know if we can," she said, her voice no more than a whisper._

_Wally's face was stricken. "You don't mean that."_

_"I don't want to mean it," she said. Her cheeks felt wet and she realized she was crying. "But Wally --"_

_His arms were suddenly around her, his hands on her cheeks. "Artemis," he said, his voice cracking. "Please don't --"_

_She kissed him, her hands going to his face. His cheeks were damp, too, against her palms, and it only made her cry harder. The kiss turned desperate. It tasted like goodbye._

_She broke away, gasping for breath. Wally tried to kiss her again, but she shook her head, leaning back. "No," she said. She stepped back out of his arms and walked back down the hall to the door. She didn't look at him. If she looked at him, she'd change her mind. "You should go."_

_"What? No," Wally said. "Artemis, please."_

_She pushed him gently through the door. "Goodbye, Wally."_

_She closed the door between them, and sank against it. Her tears fell faster. It was a long time before she moved from the floor._

* * *

From across the table, Dick stared at her in some combination of horror and disbelief. 

"You can tell me that you hate me," she said as lightly as she could. "It won't be more than I hate myself."

"I don't understand," Dick said. "I mean, this whole time, we thought Wally was at fault. But he wasn't, was he? Why didn't he ever say anything?"

"He was protecting me," Artemis said, her voice no more than a whisper. "I mean, I'm pretty sure that's what he was doing. That's who he is."

"If you know that, why would you ever leave him?" Dick demanded. "Why would you let him take that on himself?"

"Because I'm a terrible person," she snapped. "Is that what you want to hear? It's true."

Dick sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face. "I didn't say that. I don't think that. But Artemis, Wally's my best friend and I know you think we're secretly teenage girls, but he's been dealing with this shit for _months_ on his own. I'm not allowed to feel like shit about that?"

A laugh escaped before she could stop it. "Sure, why not? Plenty of that to go around."

They stared at each other for a long moment, and then they were both laughing, the kind of hysterical desperate laughter that's totally inappropriate but that can't be helped. Artemis laughed until her sides ached and tears were pricking at her eyes and when it was done, she felt just a little bit better. 

Telling Dick had helped. Having someone else to share this with, even if it was someone that by rights should hate her guts, helped. Whether it helped enough to make her actually do something about it, she was less clear on.

"So I have to ask," Dick said finally. "If you realize what a colossal mistake you made -- and I get the feeling that you do -- why haven't you done something about it? Because if there's one thing I know for sure, it's that Wally is still in love with you. I don't think he's ever going to stop."

She shook her head. "I can't ask him to take me back. Not after that. I don't deserve him after that."

"On the contrary," Dick said. "I think the fact that you had that freak out and then realized that it was a freak out means that you probably do."

She stared at him, confused. "I don't understand."

He sighed again, impatiently this time. "Come on, Artemis, having broken Wally's heart once, are you ever going to do it again?"

"No," she said automatically. "Of course not."

"There you go," Dick said. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, a satisfied smile on his face. "That's why."

It made a certain amount of perverted troll logic, Artemis had to admit that. But it was still too much chance to take. She wouldn't risk doing that to Wally again. She couldn't. She loved him too much to take that kind of risk with his heart. Or with her own.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I can't."

"You have to," Dick corrected. He stood, pulling his wallet out of his pocket and throwing cash down on the table. "Think about that for awhile and then go talk to him, Artemis. He's been waiting long enough, wouldn't you say?"

Dick walked away without another word. Artemis watched him go.

She didn't think he was right, but what if he was? Would she regret it for the rest of her life if she didn't find out? If she didn't even _see_?

Artemis went to find Wally.

* * *

Wally sat on the floor, the minibar propped open with his knee. He took a slightly blurry look down at the trashcan next to him that was already half filled with empty bottles and reached into the fridge for another. He uncapped it and poured it straight back, the vodka burning his throat. He didn't like doing this -- feeling like he needed to -- but he didn't see any other viable options either.

And if he was thinking in words like viable, he wasn't anywhere near drunk enough. He grabbed another bottle and drank it down too.

He didn't understand. He blamed Dick. He blamed himself. He blamed _her_ , and that was the last thing in the world that he wanted to do. Everything had been fine, or at least as fine as things could be between two people who refused to actually talk about the thing that was wrong. And it wasn't that Wally didn't want to talk about it, or maybe it was, but he knew her. He knew that she had to be eased into things like that and he'd been trying, but there was Dick being himself and he was so tired of being blamed for something that wasn't his fault, that hadn't been his idea, and he'd snapped.

Five months of false accusations had a way of doing that to a guy.

The door opened and he lifted his hand to shield his eyes. It was too bright. The lights in the room switched on and he winced. "Fuck," he hissed. "Turn them off, would you?"

"Wally?" The way Artemis said his name, it was like she couldn't believe what she was seeing, and hell, maybe she couldn't. He didn't recognize the person sitting on the floor either. He just didn't want to be who he was. She didn't want who he was. "Wally, are you okay?"

He waved the hand that wasn't covering his eyes at her. "I'm fine. Go away."

She dropped to her knees next to him, looking down at the garbage can. "How many of these have you had?"

"Not enough." Wally dropped his hand from his eyes and reached for another bottle, but Artemis batted his hand away and closed the fridge. "Hey," he said, blinking up at her. "You don't get to tell me what to do."

"Someone has to," Artemis said, sounding exasperated. "And I'm the only one that's here."

"I didn't ask you to be." Wally pushed her hands away and stood. He wobbled a little on his feet, and took an uneasy step until he could sit on the bed. He frowned up at her. He didn't know why she suddenly cared. He knew she didn't care. He'd gotten that message. He didn't need her messing with his head. "Seriously, Artemis, I'm fine. Go away."

She turned to face him, her hands on her hips. She looked _pissed_ , which was really completely unfair. The only person who had a right to be pissed in this situation was him. "We need to talk," she said, like this was a new thing and he hadn't been trying to talk to her for days -- for months. Not talking had not been his idea. And enough was enough.

"No." Wally shook his head, wincing at the burst of pain in his skull. "I really don't think that we do. You win, Artemis. We're done. I get the message. We don't have to do this anymore."

"But that's not what I want," she said. She sat on the bed next to him and put her hand on his cheek so that he didn't have a choice but to look at her. "Wally, I'm sorry. We need to talk about it, so that I can explain."

He stared at her. She was looking at him with the most earnest expression he'd ever seen on her face, and Artemis was not a person that did earnest. "I wanted to talk five months ago," he said flatly. "You didn't want to talk then. What changed?"

"It was five months ago. I missed you. I was _wrong_."

"Yes," he said, nodding his head. "You were. But you haven't told me why I should care."

"Ouch," she said. She tried to make it sound light, but it was obvious he'd hurt her. He didn't want to hurt her, that had never been the point.

Wally sighed, and reached over to touch her hand. He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to the punch.

"I love you," Artemis said. "I'm trying here, Wally. _Please_."

He stared at her. She meant it. He knew that she did. There wasn't an expression of her face that he didn't know, or a tone of her voice. He knew when she was lying and when she was telling the truth, and this was the truth. He just didn't know if it mattered.

"I'm tired," he said, closing his eyes. "I know that's not what you want to hear. I don't want to be saying it. But God, Artemis. It's been five months. You could have told me that a million times, and I'd've jumped for joy. I'd have crawled on broken glass to have heard those words from you. But it's five months later and I'm tired."

She reached out to touch his cheek. "Put your head in my lap and I'll tell you a story."

"What? No." He shook his head. "I don't think a story will fix this, Artemis."

"But it might. We won't know unless we try, so _please_." She gave him a shaky smile. "Don't make me get rough with you."

He looked into her eyes, and he was lost. He'd never really stood a chance at all. "Scoot over," he said, and she obliged. He bent down and put his head in her lap.

Her fingers went to his hair. She began to comb through it, as she started to speak. "Once upon a time..."

* * *

"Once upon a time," Artemis repeated, twining her fingers through his hair. "There was a girl who wanted nothing more than to make her father happy. But as she grew up, she began to realize that it would never happen, and so she chose a new path. Where her father did wrong, she would do good. And so she armed herself with the bow and arrow her father had trained her with, and took to the streets. Two wizards found her, and offered to complete the training that her father had started. To make her part of the fight for good, with teammates by her side."

"Handsome teammates?" Wally interjected, and Artemis didn't need to look down to know that he had a cocky grin on his face.

"Shhh," she said, tugging on his hair. "Where was I? Oh, right. The girl said yes. And though it wasn't easy, little by little, the six boys and girls became teammates and more importantly, friends, but the girl was keeping something from them all. She hadn't told them that her father was evil and she worried that if they found out, they would change their minds about being her friend."

"Artemis," Wally said, his shoulders lifting and starting to twist so that he could look at her. "You don't --"

She pushed his shoulders back down. "If you don't shut up, I'm not going to finish the story. And I think you'll want to hear the ending."

"Fine," Wally grumbled, shifting back and forth until he was comfortable again. "You were saying?"

"She was especially worried about one of the boys in particular, because, you see, she'd started to want to be more than his friend. And she thought that maybe, just maybe, he felt the same way about her."

"He did," Wally said softly.

"I know," Artemis said, smoothing her fingers over his forehead. "But one day there was an evil plot that meant the girl _had_ to tell her friends, and to her surprise, no one cared. They didn't care who her family was or that she hadn't told them. All that mattered was that she was their friend. And that night, the boy that she liked -- who was very handsome, because I know you're going to ask -- kissed her for the first time, and it was the start of the happiest six years of her life."

"They were mine, too, you know." He reached up to touch her hand. "I hope you know that."

"I do," she said. She took a breath. "But despite the fact that the girl had had six years of unprecedented happiness, she didn't believe that it could last. She worried that she would make a mistake and it would all end as quickly as it had come. And so, when she found a ring that seemed to say that the boy wanted it to last forever, she panicked. She was stupid, and foolish, and ruined the second-best thing that had ever happened to her."

"I am not second-best," Wally protested, his mouth turning down into a pout. "Take that back."

"Anyway, and so the girl tried to move on with her life, but then one day the boy turned up on her doorstep and asked her to take a journey with him. The girl didn't want to -- she worried that it would only hurt them both more, but she couldn't say no to him. And so they set off on a journey and she was reminded every minute of every day of how happy she'd been with him and she began to think that she could be happy again." She paused, and looked down at Wally's face. "But I don't know how this story ends, Wally. I can't write the ending myself."

There was a long pause, and Artemis began to wish she hadn't said so much. Revealed so much. Maybe it would have been better to say nothing at all.

"Can I sit up now?" he asked finally. "Please?"

"Yes," she said. "Of course."

Wally sat up and slid down the bed until they were sitting practically on top of each other, their legs pressed so tightly together that it was impossible to tell where one of them began and where the other ended. He lifted his hand to her cheek, his thumb tracing across her cheek. His eyes intent on hers, he said, "I love you. You know that."

Artemis just nodded, her heart in her throat. She didn't trust herself to talk.

"But if we're going to do this -- and god, Artemis, you have to know that I want to do this -- we're going to do it right."

"What does that mean?" she asked. "Right?"

He took one of her hands in his and squeezed. "Nothing terrible. We take things slow. We have fun. We remember why we were doing this in the first place. And we see what happens."

She exhaled, heavily. "That's it? You don't want to make me suffer a little first?"

Wally grinned at her, lightning quick. It made her dizzy. He leaned in and kissed her. "I think there's been enough suffering, don't you?" he asked, his mouth hovering over hers.

She smiled against his lips. "You know I don't like it when you're right."

"Babe," he said, leaning in to kiss her again. "I'm always right."

* * *

In the morning, when they met Dick in the lobby for breakfast, Wally could tell the exact moment when Dick spotted their joined hands. Dick's mouth curved up into the smuggest of smug smiles, and Wally supposed he should be annoyed or mad or something, but he was too damn happy to care what anyone, even his best friend, thought.

"Well, well, well," Dick said, and Wally could tell he'd only just managed to suppress the urge to rub his hands together in evil glee. Dick spent too much time around Gotham City's villain population. "Isn't this interesting. Just what were you too up to last night?"

"Talking," Artemis said. She smiled at Dick, the dangerous one that made Wally want to run and hide and simultaneously makeout with her. "Why, what were you doing?"

She made no attempt to drop Wally's hand. It made him kind of absurdly happy.

"Fine," Dick said. "I can take a hint."

Wally raised an eyebrow at him, amused. "There's a first time for everything, I guess."

"Touché," Dick said, raising his hands in surrender. "Subject officially changed. Breakfast?"

"Duh," Wally said. "Where's good? You've been here before. I assume you know."

"I'm not the one that's a walking stomach, and therefore a walking encyclopedia of restaurants," Dick pointed out. "But yes, I can probably come up with something."

"Excellent." Wally clapped him on the shoulder with his free hand. "Lead on, Tonto."

* * *

They held hands under the table at breakfast. Well, they held hands when Wally wasn't making trips up to the buffet or when he was shoveling food into his mouth, Artemis thought, so not really that much at all. But after months of not touching him at all, it was kind of indescribably nice. She watched him talk with the cook at the omelet station and smiled. More than indescribably nice.

"You're doing it again," Dick said. He was some combination of amused and irritated and it only made Artemis smile harder. Keeping Dick in the dark really was its own reward. "Seriously, Artemis, if you're not careful your face will freeze that way and then where will you be?"

"Happy?" Wally suggested as he slid back into his seat. His hand found hers without hesitation and he squeezed it gently. "I thought you had a passing acquaintance with the feeling."

"His passing acquaintance is in Paris with a Frenchman named Jean-Paul," Artemis said, not able to hold in the laugh at the look of disgust on Dick's face. "Why don't you two just make it official already? You don't like it when she dates other guys, she doesn't like it when you date other girls. It would save both of you an awful lot of misery."

"She doesn't like it when I date other girls?" Dick asked, perking up. "Do tell."

"Nope," Artemis said. "I shouldn't have said _that_ , though if you didn't know it you're even more of an idiot than I thought."

"She's right, dude," Wally said, nodding his head between bites. "Make an honest woman of Zee already. Or at least a committed one."

"I'm going to commit both of you," Dick grumbled, but it was said with the half-smile that meant that he didn't mean a single word of it. "Let's change the subject, shall we? Unless you'd like to revisit the subject of what the two of you were up to last night. Don't think I don't see the handholding going on over there. It's very sweet. Very coupley."

He smirked at them, and Artemis was sure that he was confident of his own victory in this game of personal sharing chicken. It made her want to tell him, but then, it wasn't just her secret to tell. She turned her head to the side and found Wally's eyes. 

She raised an eyebrow.

Wally nodded his head, just a fraction of a gesture.

Artemis turned back to Dick with a wide smile on her face. "What did you want to know?"

Dick boggled, but pulled it in quickly. "What? No."

It was her turn to smirk. "I thought you wanted to know what happened."

"I did -- I do," Dick corrected himself. "I just didn't think you were going to tell me."

"It's a woman's prerogative to change her mind," Wally said solemnly. "I thought you knew that."

"You know, Wally has a point," Artemis said, turning her head to smile at him. "And I think I just changed it again. I'm not in the mood to share anymore."

"You can't do that," Dick said, flatly.

"I just did," Artemis said. She smiled at him, all sugary-sweetness. "Sorry."

"At least have the dignity to fake it. You've never been less sorry about anything in your life."

"True," Artemis said. She switched to an honest grin instead. "I'm not."

"And on that note, I'm going back to the buffet for more bacon," Wally said. "Anyone want anything?"

Dick shook his head. 

Artemis squeezed Wally's hand. "Nope," she said. "But thanks."

Wally looked like he wanted to kiss her, but Artemis shook her head just a little and he refrained, loping off for the buffet line instead. Artemis turned back to look at Dick. "Well?"

"Well nothing," he said. "I'm happy for you guys. Whatever it is you're doing, you both seem happier this morning than you did last night and that makes me happy for you. I'm not a monster."

"No," she said fondly. "You're a troll. And it's why we love you."

"Aw, Artemis. I didn't know you cared."

She laughed. She couldn't help it. "Shut up."

"Will do," Dick said. "But first --"

"Don't hurt him again or you'll break my face?"

"I was going to say I'd have you fired and/or given the worst office in Wayne Tower." He grinned at her. "I can do that. I'm your boss."

"You are _not_."

"Please." Dick snorted. "Maybe not technically, but I know the guy who signs your checks pretty well, wouldn't you say?"

"And he happens to like me just fine," Artemis retorted. "It's Wally that he can't stand."

Wally chose that moment to reappear. "Are we talking about --"

"Shut _up_ ," Dick and Artemis said in one voice. 

Wally looked at them with eyebrows raised, amusement written on his face. "I can take a hint."

"There's a first time for everything," Dick said. 

Artemis laughed. Wally sat back down and proceeded to dig back into his overly full plate of food. Dick started needling Wally about baseball and Artemis settled back to listen. 

The setting was different, but this was familiar. This was routine. It was funny the things you didn't realize you'd missed until you had them back.

* * *

Wally drove to the Grand Canyon. He'd expected an argument, or at the very least, a spirited debate. But Artemis had handed the keys over without any fuss. If this were yesterday, Wally would have been suspicious, but he chose to view it as a good sign. A sign of trust. A sign of something.

He was pretty sure he'd be looking for signs in how long she brushed her teeth for in the morning soon. He could admit it.

He glanced over at her. "So scale of one to ten, how excited are you for this?"

"Hm," Artemis said. "I don't know, an eight? I still can't believe you remembered."

Wally snorted. "I feel like I should be offended that you think I'd forget something like that. Have I ever forgotten a birthday? An anniversary?"

Artemis laughed, and it just made him so goddamn happy that it was sort of ridiculous. "Every Valentine's Day that we've been together?"

"That's different," he protested. "It's a made up holiday meant to make guys feel bad about themselves."

"Guys?" she asked, eyebrows raised. "Clearly you have no experience with girls who happen to be single on Valentine's."

"Forget Valentine's --"

"You do."

Wally frowned at her. "Very funny. But as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I have remembered every actually important date in our relationship, so I should get a pass for that."

"Wally," she laughed, "we got together on New Year's _Day_. Even you couldn't forget that. And don't think I don't know about the birthday reminders that Dick programmed into all your electronic devices."

"It sounds so terrible when you put it like that. Was I really that terrible a boyfriend?"

And okay, that was a blatant fishing attempt. But desperate times, and all that.

Artemis stared at him, looking what Wally thought was baffled. Then she shook her head, and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Pull over," she whispered into his ear, before taking his earlobe between her teeth. "Now."

There were times Wally had no problems following orders. This happened to be one of them. 

No sooner had he put the car in park, than she was practically climbing over the console to kiss him. Her hands were in his hair and her mouth moved over his with such brutal intensity that the only thing Wally could do was sit back and take it. 

In an instant it was over, and Artemis was back in her own seat, smoothing her shirt back down into place. "There," she said. "Does that answer your question?"

Wally nodded dumbly, and turned on his blinker. He pulled out into traffic and hoped he didn't kill anyone. But man, on his end, it would be a hell of a way to go. Death by kissing Artemis Crock. 

Wally could think of way worse fates.

* * *

By the time they got to their hotel outside the park, it was night. Dick's argument that they couldn't leave Vegas without gambling at all had been persuasive, but put them behind schedule. Which really left them only enough time to fill Wally's stomach before going to bed so that they'd be awake for their sunrise tour the next day.

Wally had argued in favor of hiking, but Artemis trusted his sense of direction as far as she could throw it and she didn't really relish the possibility of getting lost in a desert. 

But that was hours from now. In the meantime, there was the food situation to address. And the bed one. Artemis wasn't thinking about that.

"So," she said brightly, once they'd been installed in their already depressingly familiar hotel room. "Food?"

Wally raised an eyebrow, she presumed about her tone, but didn't comment on it. "Yes," he said instead. "Eating would be a very good idea. Is there a thing with restaurant ideas?"

This was one of those times when it was good that she spoke Wally. Artemis located the ever-present binder of food and tourism suggestions in the drawer between the queen sized beds. She sat down on the closest one to thumb through the laminated pages. "There's a Denny's," she said, looking up at him as she bit back a laugh. "It has become something of a tradition."

Wally sat down next to her, pulling the binder onto his own lap. "I think we can do better," he said dryly. He pointed at one of the entries. "How about that?"

Artemis looked down. Cruisers Route 66 Cafe, she read. Her nose wrinkled. "Really?" 

Wally shrugged. "Come on, classic Americana, isn't that what road trips are supposed to be about?" He didn't wait for her to answer, but slid his finger over to another entry. "Okay, how about this?"

The Grand Depot Cafe. She could live with that. "Sure," she said, taking the binder back and dropping it in the drawer. "Let's go."

He looked suspicious about her relatively easy agreement, but was smart enough not to say a word about it. "Do you want to drive?"

Driving meant paying attention to the road and unfamiliar terrain and not being able to let herself get distracted by thoughts of beds and sleeping arrangements and -- 

Mind made up, Artemis nodded her head with a quick, decisive movement. "Yes."

* * *

Dinner was fine, but entirely too short. Before Artemis knew it, they were back in the hotel room and the probably of sleeping arrangements reared its ugly head once more. Wally seemed oblivious to this, though, and flopped down on the nearest bed as soon as they opened the door.

"I'm beat," Wally said. He stretched his arms over his head and tucked them beneath it. It looked painful, but was his default at rest position, Artemis knew. "You ready for bed?"

"Um," Artemis said, stalling for time. She fidgeted on her feet, and god, she hated herself right now. She braced herself. "About that..."

Wally propped himself up on his elbows and looked at her curiously. "Yes?"

"Thoughts on the sleeping arrangements?"

A knowing grin spread widely across Wally's face and Artemis regretted every single one of those words. "I knew you couldn't keep your hands off me."

She shook her head. "I don't know what I was thinking," she said, mostly to herself. "I knew better. And yet..." She turned to head towards the bathroom. "I'm going to shower," she said, calling the words back over her shoulder. "Try not to be you when I come out."

A blur went by her and then Wally was standing in front of her, solidly, making her bump into him. His arms came up to cup her elbows and her hands went to his chest. 

"Wally," she sighed, looking down at the ground. "Just let me go."

"Hey," he said softly, so softly that she had to look up. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head. He didn't get to do that. She hated it when he was reasonable and the bigger person. It wasn't fair. "Don't do that."

His mouth quirked up into a smile, and she knew that he knew what she was thinking. "Sorry," he said. "My mom raised me right. Can't help it."

And okay, _that_ was worth a laugh, which was why she gave into it. She let the laugh roll through her, her chest vibrating against Wally's as he laughed with her. When the laughter died its natural death, they were left staring at each other once again, awkward silence firmly back in place.

"I am sorry," he said finally. "I know that this is weird. I know that it's my decision that it's weird. But I still think that it's the right one. Even if it means that I'm forced to say that we should probably stick to the original sleeping arrangements no matter how badly I want you in my bed."

Her throat went dry. The words _you do_ were there on the tip of her tongue, but she forced them back. She was not that girl. And Wally, whatever his many faults, was not that boy. There was no need to go to that place. 

She nodded instead. "Okay." 

Wally looked surprised. Or relieved. It could be hard to tell sometimes. "Okay?"

She didn't answer, but stretched up just a little to brush her mouth against his in the briefest of kisses. "Okay."

She disentangled herself from him, and headed into the bathroom without looking back. She sincerely hoped that he was watching her walk away. 

It only seemed fair to torture him, since he was doing some torturing of his own. One night in the same bed had reminded her of how much she liked sleeping with Wally. Taking it away again seemed cruel. 

A little cruelty in exchanged seemed perfectly fair.

* * *

Morning came way too early when you were getting up in order to see the sun rise, Wally thought as he smothered another yawn. He looked down at Artemis's head on his shoulder. She was still sound asleep. She'd been the smarter one. 

He looked around the shuttle at the rest of their fellow passengers. Most of them were sound asleep as well. Seriously, was he the only one that hadn't planned for this?"

"Hey," Artemis said. Her voice was thick with sleepiness and her eyes were still half closed as she tipped her face up to his. "Why are you awake?"

Wally smiled at her. She was so beautiful like this, and she'd never let him tell her that in a million years. He brushed her hair off her face, tucking it back behind her ear. "I don't know."

"Go to sleep," she said, her own eyes falling shut again. 

Well, if she insisted. He set his head against hers and shut his eyes, breathing in the smell of her almond-scented shampoo. This really was an excellent idea.

The van stopped moving.

Wally groaned. He felt Artemis laugh against his chest before raising her head to look at him. 

"Sorry?" she said, a little sheepishly. "I didn't realize how close we were."

He kissed her forehead. "I guess I can forgive you. This once, anyway."

"This once?" Artemis asked. "Planning a return visit already?"

Their turn came to get out, and Wally shrugged as he climbed out of the van. "I don't know, maybe."

"Depends on what?" Artemis asked, right on his heels. 

He looked back over his shoulder. "You, of course." 

"Wally," she said, her voice gone breathy. "Don't --"

He didn't wait for her to finish the sentence, but reached behind him to take her hand in his. "C'mon," he said instead. "Let's just watch this happen, okay?"

She hesitated, but nodded and tightened her fingers around his. He squeezed her hand back.

It never ceased to amaze him how right something so simple could feel. He hoped that this time he never had a chance to forget.

* * *

It was colder than she'd expected, and Artemis shivered beneath the USC sweatshirt she wore. Of course Wally saw it.

"Cold?" he asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his side. "You just had to ask."

If she was burrowing into his side, it was purely because he was a human space heater. Or at least that's what she was telling herself. It had nothing to do with how good it felt to be there, like this, with him. Because that was something she wasn't letting herself think about. Thinking about that was the opposite of taking things slow.

"Shut up," she said. 

Wally laughed, and she felt the vibrations of it against her cheek. "Yes, ma'am."

Artemis smiled to herself, glad that he couldn't see. 

They sat there, quietly together, as people milled and paced around them, searching for the perfect spot to watch. She watched people pull out cameras and phones, arguing about angles and exposures, but none of it sunk in. It was almost like having an out of body experience, except she was very much in her body. She was aware of every place where her body touched Wally's, every breath that he took. Was there such a thing as an in body experience? She'd have to ask Zatanna. 

She shook her head. She was ridiculous.

"Hey, look," Wally said, his mouth brushing over her ear. He pointed out at the sky, which was just starting to turn the faintest shade of pink. "It's starting."

She shifted to get a better look, moving so she was standing directly in front of Wally instead of pressed against his side. His arm fell away from her shoulders, but then both arms were there around her waist instead, her back to his front. It felt indescribably good.

"It's beautiful," she murmured, and she felt Wally nod against her hair. 

The sun rose slowly -- or maybe it just seemed that way -- blossoming in front of them in waves of pink and orange. The sky seemed to shimmer with color, reflecting off the canyon's walls. It didn't seem possible that something so beautiful could be real.

Artemis half-turned in Wally's arms, her eyes finding his. "Thank you," she said. "For bringing me, I mean. For remembering and for --"

Wally kissed her, swallowing her words. Artemis didn't mind. 

In this time and in this place, kissing Wally seemed like the rightest thing she'd ever done.

* * *

Wally locked himself in the bathroom. Artemis was asleep, but he stuffed a towel up against the door for good measure. When it came to dealing with people who had spent way too many of their formative years learning surveillance techniques, Wally knew better than to not take every possible precaution, no matter how ineffective they'd be if someone decided to snoop.

Satisfied that he'd done everything he could, Wally pulled out his phone. "Call Zatanna," he ordered. The phone started to ring. Three rings later, there was Zatanna's voice on the other side of the line.

"Wally!" Zatanna said cheerfully. "Forget the time difference again?"

"Shit," he said. "I'm sorry, is it late?"

"Nah," she said, laughing in the slightly evil way that had always made Wally fear her just a little. "I'm just messing with you. What's up?"

Wally hesitated. Once he asked, he couldn't take it back. There would be merciless teasing, and she'd never forget, and she'd never let him forget that she'd never forget, but if he wanted advice from someone that actually understood how relationships were supposed to function, Zatanna was his best bet.

"I need your help," he said.

"My four favorite words in the English language," Zatanna said, and Wally could practically _hear_ her rubbing her hands together in glee. "What do you need? Love spell? Locator spell? I know how easily you get lost, West. Name it."

"IneedyoutotellmehownottowanttohavesexwithArtemis," he said all in one breath, hoping beyond hope that it would take her time to parse the actual words, which would mean more time that she wasn't laughing at him and --

Her high, tinkly laughter filled his ear. So that was a no then.

"Excuse me?" she said, between gasps of laughter. "You want to know how not to want to have sex with Artemis? Hasn't that been your primary goal since the age of 16 or so? If you haven't stopped wanting to have sex with her by now, it's probably not going to happen."

He fought the eye roll valiantly, he really did. "I don't want to stop wanting to have sex with her for forever," he snapped. "Just for the next few weeks. Or days. I'd settle for days. C'mon, Zat, you're her best friend. Tell me some gross story or whatever. You must have _something_."

"First of all," Zatanna started.

Wally groaned and slumped back against the sink.

"I heard that. And as I was saying, even if I did know something, I wouldn't tell you, because of the whole best friends thing."

"I tell you shit about Dick all the time," Wally protested. "How is that okay and not you telling me things?"

"It's _Dick_ ," Zatanna said, like that explained everything. And okay, she might have a point there. "But anyway, I'm more curious about the temporary part of the de-lusting that you want. Things not going well?"

"Things are _fine_." He paused, reflected. "Better than fine. And I'd like to keep them that way, which means that we shouldn't be having sex! Not yet."

"Oh, honey," Zatanna murmured, her voice thick with sympathy. "That sounds like the opposite of what you two should be doing."

"You're not helping!"

There was muffled laughter on the other end of the line. "Sorry, frog in my throat."

Wally snorted. "And in your bed, from the sounds of it."

"Do you want my help or not?" Zatanna demanded. "And tell Dick to stop being an ass next time you talk to him."

"I can try. It is Dick we're talking about."

Zatanna sighed. "I know. Believe me, I know. But we were talking about you."

"Yes," Wally said, bobbing his head up and down. "Help. Please."

"Alright. Now, let me see if I understand this. This grand romantic gesture of yours -- which is another thing that you explain to Dick, by the way -- is going well. So well, that you're worried about messing it up, and for some reason you think that sex would mess it up, and you want me to talk you out of doing something that would do just that." She paused. "Is that about right?"

"It sounds so stupid when you say it like that."

She laughed again, this time with no muffling. "Wally, that's because it _is_."

"I know," he said. He waited a beat. "So what do I do?"

"Have sex!"

Wally opened his mouth to answer, but she cut him off. He could almost see the hand she was holding up in the air. It was possible they'd spent far too much time together over the years.

"Look, I don't know everything that's gone on between the two of you since you started this little adventure. I imagine that some of it's been good and some of it has been bad, but if you're really set on rebuilding what the two of you have, then sex has to be a part of it. Because sex is a part of your relationship, an important part if all the stories Artemis used to tell me were true."

Wally felt his face turn red. "I don't want to know, do I?"

"Nope!" Zatanna said. "You really don't. But seriously, if it feels right to have sex, you should have sex. If it doesn't, you shouldn't. Best advice I've got. Sorry, pal."

"No," Wally said slowly. "It was probably what I needed to hear. So, thanks."

"You're welcome. Now about my fee --"

"You'll know it when you see it," he said. "Bye, Zat."

"Bye, Wally."

She hung up on him.

Wally shut off the screen on his phone, and bent to pick the towel up from the floor. He opened the door as quietly as he could and stepped out into the room. Artemis was still asleep.

He stared at her. She was so goddamn beautiful that it made his teeth ache sometimes. He didn't know why she wanted him. In his world, girls like her never wanted him, until one day she did, and it was like getting hit by lightning. Why he'd thought that he could ignore that part of them, he didn't know. Maybe the thing that Dick always told him about being an idiot was true.

He tiptoed across the room and climbed into bed next to her, curling himself around her body. She didn't push him away. He settled his face against her hair and closed his eyes. This, then, would be the start of remembering.

* * *

Artemis woke slowly. There were arms around her, a body pressed against hers. It felt warm, safe. She smelled mint and boy, and breathed his name. "Wally."

The arms around her tightened and his nose burrowed into her neck. "Hi," he said, his voice slurring a little on the single syllable. "I hope you don't mind."

She shook her head, just a fraction. "No."

"Good," Wally said, the word humming against her skin. "Because you really didn't get a choice in the matter."

" _Hey_ ," Artemis said, trying to be indignant but failing miserably when it came out as a laugh instead. "Since when is forced cuddling your thing?"

Wally's hands ran up her sides to the spot just below her ribs where she was ticklish as hell. They hovered there, unmoving. 

Her breath held, Artemis waited. And waited. And dammit, that was just what Wally was after.

"Care to take that back?" he asked. He sounded far too gleeful. Artemis couldn't let it stand.

Which meant taking preemptive action of her own. She rolled in his arms, so that she was facing him. Her hands slid around to his back and up under his t-shirt. There was a spot on his back that drove him into spasms when it was touched, and her hand hovered just over it. 

Wally blinked at her. "I always forget how fast you are. _I'm_ supposed to be the fast one. It's not fair."

Her mouth curved up into a smug smile. "Please, I was training for this shit _years_ before being a superhero was even a twinkle in your eye." She brought one hand up to his cheek, patting it gently. "It's okay to admit defeat. It doesn't make you less of a man."

"No?" Wally asked, his eyebrows shooting straight up into his hair. "Well, what about this?"

Before she could even blink, his mouth covered hers. And this, this was a kiss with _intent_. A kiss that promised all sorts of things that Artemis wanted desperately but that they weren't supposed to be doing. 

Her hands went to his chest, with every intention of pushing him away, but they curled into the soft cotton of his well-worn t-shirt instead. If he didn't want to think, why should she? Why should she think when there was so much to feel instead?

Wally's hands cupped her breasts, and all chance of thinking went out the window. She tore her mouth away on a gasp of his name, pressing herself into his hands. " _Please_ ," she managed to say, before his mouth was back on hers, hot and wet, and oh god, how had she gone without this for _months_?

Not willing to wait any longer for his hands on her skin, Artemis let go of his shirt and groped for the hem of her tank top. She pulled it upwards, and Wally's hands joined hers, helping untangle her hair from the mess of arms and hands and cotton. 

Wally kissed her throat, his mouth curving into a smile against her skin. "Impatient much?"

Artemis raised an eyebrow and ran a hand down his chest and lightly over the bulge at the front of his shorts. "You were saying?"

"Touché" he said, his mouth covering hers again. He reached around her back to unfasten her bra, but she batted his hands away. 

She pointed at his shirt. "Lose it, now."

"Yes, ma'am," he said. The shirt was gone before she could take her next breath. He nodded towards her bra. "Your turn."

Fair was fair. Artemis reached behind her for the clasp, pulling it open with a flick of her wrist. The straps fell down her shoulders and the fabric sagged at the front, but she took her time pulling it all the way off. She liked the way Wally was looking at her too much too hurry, his eyes dark and just the slightest bit unfocused. It was incredibly gratifying. 

"Tease," he said, and it was like his voice was an octave lower than normal. It was incredibly hot. She liked knowing that she could do that to him, especially now after so much time had gone by. But still, enough was enough.

Artemis dropped the bra to the mattress. Wally's eyes fixated on her breasts. She stared at his abs. She wasn't sure, but she thought she might have been drooling. She didn't remember them looking quite like that before. She'd have remembered abs like that, wouldn't she? Something like that wasn't forgettable. 

"You're staring," Wally said, and Artemis blinked back to attention.

"So were you," she said weakly, because really, she had no idea when he'd stopped.

Wally dragged her across the mattress so that she was straddling his hips. "Less talking, more doing?"

Her hand skimmed over his chest and to his shoulders. "Deal."

She'd never know which one of them moved first, but their mouths came together, and his hands were on her and hers were on him. He gasped. She moaned. They fumbled off the rest of their clothes, and then Wally's incredibly nimble fingers were between her legs and on her clit and oh god --

She came groaning Wally's name and went limp. Jesus, she'd forgotten how good he was at that too.

Wally pressed against her, his erection hard against her thigh. "So," he said, and she didn't have to look at him to know that he was grinning. "Thoughts?"

She shook her head, and rolled them, so she was straddling him once more. She took him in hand, stroking him firmly. His hips bucked against her hand, and he moaned. It was exactly where she wanted him.

"Yes," she said. "Please tell me that you have condoms in your suitcase."

"Wallet," he gasped, pointing blindly at the side of the bed in a gesture she could only assume meant that his wallet was in his shorts. She leaned over and scooped them up. The wallet was in the back pocket and she flipped through it with practiced ease, plucking the condom out. She tore through the packaging and rolled it down, ignoring the pitiful noises Wally was making. 

She rose up over him and sank down, not able to catch the moan that escaped her lips when she did. Seriously, how had she done without this for five months? She was never doing that again.

Wally's hands found her hips and she looked down at him. 

"Now," he said.

She moved, obliging them both. It was fast, faster than she wanted, but it had been so long and neither of them were in the mood for more. Her breathing got heavier, and his fingers found her clit again. She came. He followed her over the edge, her name spilling over his lips as he did. 

She collapsed on the bed next to him, sweaty and sated. He rolled out of bed to dispose of the condom and when he came back, she rolled onto his chest. His hand stroked absently over her hair, and there was nothing that she wanted more than to stay like this for as long as they could. She knew that they couldn't.

"Wally," she said, raising her head to look at him. "What was that?"

* * *

He cracked open one eye and peered up at her. She had her serious face on and she looked entirely too alert. He felt like he'd been hit by Conner when he didn't remember to pull his punches in training. It wasn't fair.

"We have to do this now?" he asked, and from the frown on Artemis's face, it wasn't the right question. 

" _Yes_ ," she said. "You were the one that wanted to take things slow, you know. And then you kissed me and we had sex and I'm pretty sure that's not slow."

Wally sighed. He gestured towards the jumble of clothes on the floor. "If we're going to have this conversation, I'd like to be wearing pants," he said. "Is that okay?"

Artemis rolled her eyes at him, and leaned over his legs to snag a shirt. She pulled it over her head, and Wally watched, sad to see all her pretty skin get covered up. Somehow, no matter how many times they had sex, Wally never fully believed that she'd let him see her naked ever again. 

"Wally?"

He blinked the room back into focus. Artemis was staring at him expectantly, arms crossed over her chest. 

"Pants?" she prompted.

Wally nodded. "Right, pants."

He slid off the bed and rummaged through the pile until he found his boxers. He tugged them on and sat back down on the bed. "So," he said.

"So," Artemis echoed.

He tried smiling at her while he thought about what he was going to say. It was a terrible idea. He was pretty sure he looked like an idiot and he'd sound like even more of one if he said _Zatanna made me do it_. "You don't want to go first?" he tried, but Artemis just shook her head.

"Nope. You started the sex, you can start the talking."

"I think, technically, you started the talking. And I didn't hear any complaints about me starting the sex."

"Wally," she said, exasperated. "I will beat you up. You know that I will. Talk."

"Fine," he said, drawing the word out on a sigh. He shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "I wanted to. You wanted to. It seemed silly not to."

"And yet two nights ago you said that we shouldn't do anything like that until we were sure we knew what we were doing."

"That was before you molested me in the car!" Wally was nearly certain that he yelped those words. "And before I realized how hard it would be to be around you and know that you wanted me and that I wanted you and Zatanna made me do it, okay?"

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Come again?"

Wally shook his head. "No. I don't think so."

The eyebrow went up again, and that couldn't mean anything good for him or his self-control. Sure enough, Artemis scooted up the bed and slid a leg over his hip so that she was straddling his thighs. 

"We have ways of making you talk," she said, wiggling her fingers in her face. Wally assumed it was supposed to be menacing. It wasn't. Not when she was sitting there and he could think about her fingers doing other things and --

Fingers snapped in front of his eyes. 

"You really need to stop with the zoning out thing," Artemis said. 

Wally snorted. "You need to put more clothes on if you want me to do that."

"Aw," she said. "That's sweet. In a perverted sort of way."

Wally laughed, and set his hands on her hips. "You like me this way."

She nodded. "It's true, I do." She set her hands on his shoulders and looked at him seriously. "And yet there's this going slow thing to deal with..."

"We can't go slow and have sex?" Artemis opened her mouth to speak, but he rushed to cover her mouth with his hand. "Just hear me out."

Artemis frowned, but nodded, and Wally lowered his hand. No sense risking bite marks that weren't sources of fun.

"Sex was never our problem. And _not_ having sex when we both want to would make things _more_ complicated. So we should have sex. Lots of sex. And just take things slowly emotionally. Or something." He frowned himself and shook his head. "It made way more sense when Zatanna explained it."

Artemis gave him a look of horror. He couldn't blame her when he was sort of horrified himself. "You're taking relationship advice from _Zatanna_? Wally, I love her like a sister, more than my sister sometimes, but she has never, in her life, been in a functional relationship. Just look at the knots she and Dick tie each other into."

"Yeah, but you can't deny that they have a fantastic sex life."

Artemis shuddered. "I try not to remember that, thank you very much."

He grinned at her then, and leaned in to press a kiss to the corner of her mouth. "See, isn't this so much more fun than talking and taking things slow?"

She kissed him back, lingering over it before drawing back. "It is. But Wally, what if you change your mind? How much worse will going back to not having sex?"

He shook his head. "I won't," he said, utterly adamant. On this point, he was completely certain. "Do I look crazy enough to give sex with you up if given the chance?" He held up a hand. "Don't answer that."

Artemis grinned at him, and something in his heart unclenched. "So do we shake on this or something?" she asked, eyebrow raised once more.

"Something," he said. 

He flipped them both until he was pressing her back into the mattress and lowered his mouth to hers. Definitely something.

* * *

Artemis waited until she was sure Wally was asleep, and then she crept out of bed. She scooped up his shirt from the end of the bed where he'd thrown it and her cell phone from the dresser, and tiptoed into the bathroom. 

She pulled the shirt over her head and sat on the edge of the bathtub. She tried to do the math in her head. It was five o'clock here, which meant that it was two am in Paris. She thought. There was something weird about daylight savings time in Arizona, and screw it. She was calling Zatanna anyway. 

It wouldn't be the first time Artemis had called her in the middle of the night. She was equally sure it wouldn't be the last.

She dialed. While she waited, she studied the chips in her toenail polish. Her old roommates would have her head. Zatanna, too. Idly, she wondered what Wally would say if she said she wanted to visit a nail salon. He'd probably plop down into the chair next to hers and know the manicurist's life story inside five minutes. Because that was Wally.

"Hello?" a grumpy, sleepy-sounding Zatanna finally answered. "Artemis? You'd better be bleeding out or something, because I --"

"Yes, yes, I know, eight hours of sleep are critically important both for inner and outer beauty and for centering yourself to properly perform magic. You've told me a million times."

"And yet you call me in the middle of the night." Zatanna huffed out a heavy breath. "So this better be good."

Artemis hesitated for only a second. "Wally and I had sex."

"Yay!" Zatanna said, and Artemis would have sworn there was actual excitement in her voice. "I mean, I assume that this is a yay-appropriate situation. I figure you've trained the bad sex out of him by now. Or at least I hope you have."

"Yes," Artemis said, trying desperately to keep up. She did not understand the way Zatanna's brain worked sometimes. It was probably why Zatanna and Dick were so perfect for each other. "I mean, no. I mean, yes, it was good sex. I'm just not sure yay is the appropriate sentiment."

"Why wouldn't it be?" Zatanna asked. "I mean, first of all, having sex is almost always a good thing on its own. Second, it was good sex. Third, it was Wally and if you didn't like having sex with him you'd have stopped in the six years you two have been you two, so I'm really not seeing the downside here." She sighed, heavily. "I wish I were having sex."

"I thought you were," Artemis asked, utterly confused. "Jean-Paul?"

"Oh, him." Artemis could practically see the dismissive gesture that she was certain Zatanna was making. "I may have let Dick assume more than there was to assume. There is no sex being had. Unfortunately."

"You know, if you told Dick that, he'd be on the next plane to Paris."

"What would the fun be in that?"

"Sex?" 

Zatanna laughed. "Touché. But we weren't talking about my sex life. We were talking about yours. And the fact that you have one again. And again, I say, yay!"

"You would," Artemis said, her head spinning in circles, "since I hear it was your idea."

"Oh," Zatanna said. "That."

"Yes," Artemis agreed. "That."

There was a pause just long enough for Zatanna to shrug. Artemis knew this because she'd seen her do it a hundred times. "Should I apologize for that? Wally wanted to have sex. I just nudged him in the direction of actually doing so. Really, you should be thanking me."

"I should?"

"You should," Zatanna said firmly. "You can't honestly tell me that you're mad at me for encouraging it. I know how much you like having sex Artemis. I've heard it, remember?"

Artemis raised an eyebrow at herself in the mirror. "Do you really want to compare notes on who's heard more?"

There was another pause. "I don't care for the fact that you have a point," Zatanna said finally. "But you do."

"Yes," Artemis said. "I know. And no, I'm not mad at you. I'm just confused as to how a relationship where we have sex all over the continental United States but take things slowly on an emotional level despite the fact that we've been in love since we were sixteen is supposed to work. I thought you might have some insight into that."

There was a beat, and then Zatanna said, "I deserved that, didn't I?"

"You did," Artemis said, nodding her head at no one. "You really, really did."

"Fair enough." Zatanna took a breath. "The thing is, though, that I don't have an answer for you. I wish that I did. But I don't. What works for Dick and I -- and I know that you all think that it doesn't, but it does -- won't work for the two of you. You're just going to have to figure that out on your own."

"How incredibly unhelpful of you," Artemis said. "Thanks so much."

"Sorry," Zatanna said, and Artemis knew that she was wincing. "But hey! I am always available for middle of the night phone calls and texts and really, we have to do a better job filling each other in on this stuff, because you know that Dick and Wally are texting constantly."

Artemis laughed at that. "You have no idea."

"Oh, but I do. And on that, note, I'm going to try to get some more sleep before my eight am lit class. _Au revoir, mon amie._ "

" _Good night_ ," Artemis said, but Zatanna had already hung up the phone. 

Artemis stared at herself in the mirror. She was on her own. Well, on her own with Wally. Which wasn't on her own, even if practical considerations like food and lodging and gas were still mostly hers. 

They could figure this out. Together. They had to. 

She opened the bathroom door and went out, setting her phone back on the dresser where it had been before. She climbed back into bed, and settled back against Wally's chest.

His arm went around her, and he mumbled softly in her ear. "Everything okay?"

She patted his hand where it lay against her stomach. "Everything's fine. Go back to sleep."

"'kay."

Artemis let the rhythm of his breathing lull her to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, they checked out of the hotel around eight. They'd decided to drive through the night to Colorado Springs so that they'd be there bright and early for the tour of the Olympic Training Center tour that Wally _had_ to go on. 

Artemis wasn't telling him that she thought the tour actually looked pretty cool. She wanted to hoard the destination favor that it gave her too badly. Especially since she was pretty sure that there was another baseball game looming in her near future. She really didn't get how someone that was physically incapable of sitting still could do so for so long for so little, but Wally basically was a walking contradiction, so maybe it wasn't all that surprising.

It was nearly twelve hours to Colorado Springs. Wally drove for the first six hours, and Artemis fed him a steady diet of red bull and swedish jelly fish to keep him awake. When they stopped for gas, Artemis took his place behind the wheel, and it was his turn to ply her with Diet Coke and M&M's. It worked, mostly, though Artemis suspected that Wally's terrible attempts to out sing Bon Jovi had more to do with keeping her awake than the caffeine. 

They got to Colorado Springs an hour before tours started. Because Wally was Wally and had Wally's bottomless stomach, there was never question of what they were going to spend that hour doing. The gas station attendant told them about a place called the Village Inn and off they went. 

Artemis wasn't sure if it was the caffeine or Wally's country sausage crepes making her stomach queasy, but either way, she steadfastly refused to watch him eat them. Better not to take chances with these things was her motto when it came to Wally and food. It was a lesson that demanded constant reinforcement. 

They went on the tour, which was actually pretty awesome and made Artemis's hands itch to pick up her bow and arrow in the worst way. When she mentioned this to Wally, he laughed and wrapped his arm around her neck and said, "Well, we'll have to see what we can do about that, won't we?"

Artemis knew there was a reason that she put up with the bad table manners.

After the tour and purchasing way too much over-priced Olympic memorabilia, they headed to Denver. About a half hour out, Wally started tapping his fingers against the wheel in the way that Artemis _knew_ meant that he was trying to think of a way to tell her something in the way least likely to end in his blood being shed.

"Just say it," she said, setting her hand on his knee. "I won't be mad, I promise."

He glanced down at her hand and then over at her face. "Really promise? Because your hand is dangerously close to areas that I would prefer you not damage."

Artemis laughed and rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said, removing her hand and holding them up to show that she was unarmed. "I promise."

"I'm not sure I believe you," Wally said. "But okay. I want to go see the Rockies play the Brewers. You in?"

"Do I have a choice?" 

"Of course!" Wally looked offended. "I'm not a monster, here."

"No," she said. "Just a baseball fanatic."

"Guilty as charged," he said. "So, I repeat. Are you in?"

"Fine," she said on a sigh. "It can't be worse than the last time, right?"

Someday, she'd learn not to say things like that.

* * *

"One to nothing," Artemis said for what had to be at least the twentieth time since they'd left the stadium. "One to nothing."

Make that twenty-one times. He glanced over at her and then back at the door he was trying to open. "I'm sorry?"

"That game was more than three hours, Wally. More than _three hours_. And only one team managed to score. Once."

The door finally opened, and Wally pushed stepped into the room first, holding the door open for Artemis to follow him in.

She flopped down on one of the beds. Wally stood at the end of the bed, looking down at her. She was sleepy, just the slightest bit drunk, and incredibly sexy. And if he told her that, she'd either laugh at him or jump him. Wally didn't especially want to take a chance on it being the former.

"I'll make it up to you," he said instead, pulling off her sandals. He toed off his own shoes and climbed onto the bed next to her. She turned into him, her nose rubbing against his neck as her limbs closed around him like a vine.

"How?" she asked, the word vibrating through his whole body.

He swallowed, hard, willing other parts of his anatomy not to let themselves get in the same condition. "You get to pick what we do tomorrow?"

Artemis laughed, and his willpower gave up entirely. "Please, I was going to do that anyway."

"Ah," Wally said. Unable to stop himself, he pressed a kiss to her throat, then another. "I should have known."

"Yes," Artemis said. She rolled on top of him, her hands slipping below the waistband of his shorts. "You really should have."

His eyes crossed when she took his dick in hand. "I'll make that up to you too," he panted. "Whatever you want. Just don't stop what you're doing."

She laughed again, and slid down his body. She unbuttoned his shorts and pushed the fabric down his hips. "I like this," she said, taking him back in hand. "You owing me favors, I mean."

She bent down, her hair falling in a curtain around her face. "I think I'll make you owe me one more."

It was the last thing Wally understood before she took him in her mouth and he went cross-eyed.

* * *

"You know," Wally said the next morning while they were standing in line to buy their admission to the Denver Art Museum, "I didn't think you were going to take the whole owing you thing seriously." He lowered his voice and bent his head to her ear. "Plus, I mean, shouldn't I have worked off some of that last night? Five times, Artemis. _Five._."

"Oh, Wally," Artemis said, her voice rich with fake sympathy and barely suppressed laughter. She patted his cheek. "Really?"

"Yeah, yeah," he said, digging into his pocket for his wallet. He mustered up a smile for the elderly woman behind the counter. "Two, please."

Artemis just laughed and slipped her hand into his.

* * *

They left late in the afternoon, after Artemis had seen enough art to make her happy and feel that Wally had suffered enough for his many baseball-related sins. The next stop on their itinerary was Central City, and Artemis's stomach got progressively more upset with every mile that passed. 

She didn't know why she was so nervous. Wally's parents liked her. Loved her, even. She'd never felt anything less than exuberantly welcomed every time she'd been there. _But that was before you broke their son's heart_ , the annoying little voice in her head said. She tried to argue with it, remind it that things were better, almost back to normal even. _It still happened_ , the voice insisted. 

Artemis was afraid the voice was right.

Four hours into the nine hour drive, she finally caved and brought the subject up. "So," she said, trying for as casual as possible. It sounded incredibly fake even to her own ears. "How are your parents?"

Wally gave her a puzzled look before looking back at the road. "Good. The same. Why?"

"I don't know," she said. "A lot can change in five months, Wally. I just thought I should ask."

"Oh," he said, drawing the word out to about eighteen syllables. She knew she shouldn't have been so direct. "You want to know if they hate you. Of course they don't, Artemis."

"That wasn't what I was asking."

"Yes, it was." Wally tapped himself on the side of the head. "I'm more than just a pretty face, you know."

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Whoever told you that you were that?"

He clutched his chest. "That hurts. Right here."

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Watch the road, dumbass."

Wally grinned. "Yes, ma'am."

The car fell silent, except for the sounds of the classic rock station that Wally had insisted on them listening to. Another mile marker flashed by and Artemis's stomach churned.

"They really aren't mad at you," Wally said finally. Something in Wally's voice made her turn to look at him, and he shrugged under her scrutiny. "I mean, it's sort of like with everyone else. They think I did something wrong."

"They're your parents," she said. "I'm sure that you're wrong."

Wally shook his head. "Nah."

Artemis reached over to touch his knee. "Hey," she said. "I'll tell them that they're wrong. They shouldn't blame you for something that's my fault."

"I don't know if blame is the right word," he said. "I think mostly they were just sad that I was sad. But that never changed how much they loved you, Artemis. I mean, I'm pretty sure my mom likes you more than she likes me."

She laughed at that, because that was patently false. Artemis might not be an expert on much in the way of families, but she was willing to bet all the money she had on the fact that few mothers adored their child more than Mary West adored her son. 

"Drive on, Jeeves," she ordered. 

Wally grinned. "Yes, ma'am."

It was amazing how quickly five hours could go by when you didn't want them to end.

* * *

It was almost midnight when they pulled into the driveway and the house was dark. Wally turned off the engine and turned to smile at Artemis. "Home sweet home," he said. 

Artemis smiled weakly at him and he frowned. Was she still nervous? He didn't like that she was nervous. Yes, his parents loved him, but they weren't _monsters_. There was no reason for her to be afraid of them. Or even just his mom, since Wally wasn't sure that her terror extended to his dad. 

"Hey," he said, reaching over to cover her hand with his own. "It'll be fine. I promise."

"Yeah?" Artemis asked, turning her hand over and twining their fingers together.

"Yes," Wally said. He squeezed her hand once and then released it, reaching across her to open her door. "Now come on. Time to meet your maker."

He didn't need to see the eye roll to know that she was doing it. 

"Your maker, you mean," she said, but she climbed out of the car anyway. Wally hurried to do the same and grab the bags from the trunk before she could insist that she could do it herself. He knew that she could and she knew that she could and he also knew that his mother would think that he had terrible manners if he let her. In this situation, he'd rather piss off Artemis than his mom. That was just the smarter call. Anyone who disagreed had never met his mom.

Wally held out his hand. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Artemis muttered, but she took his hand and they walked up the front steps together. He fumbled one handed with his keys, but when Artemis made a move to release his hand he just tightened his grip. 

"I've got it!" he said triumphantly, holding the key up for inspection before putting it in the lock. He twisted the key and the lock gave way. He started to push on the door, but it fell open in front of him to reveal his mother standing on the other side.

"Did you forget something?" his mother demanded, frown firmly in place.

Wally tried smiling at her. It made no difference at all. "Hi, mom," he said weakly. "Did I forget to tell you we were coming?"

* * *

"I'm sorry about putting you in Wally's room, dear," Mrs. West said, as she led them up the stairs. She turned her head to give her son a piercing look. " _Someone_ didn't clean out the guest bedroom before leaving for California like he promised."

"Mom," Wally protested. 

Artemis didn't have to look at him to know that his ears were red. "I really don't mind," she said. "In fact, the couch is fine. I promise."

"Don't be silly. You're a guest. You get a bed." She opened the door to Wally's room with a flourish. "Here we are! Wally, be a dear and change the sheets, won't you?"

"He doesn't have to --" Artemis started, but Mrs. West patted her cheek, cutting her off mid-sentence.

"He does," Mrs. West said. She gave Wally an expectant look. "Right, Wallace?"

"Yes, Mom," Wally said dutifully. He bent to kiss her cheek. "Good night."

"Good night!"

Mrs. West disappeared down the hall, shutting the door behind her. Leaving them alone. In Wally's childhood bedroom. Standing in front of a bed where they'd made out on more occasions than Artemis could conveniently count. Where they'd done more than make out. This was _bad_.

Artemis looked at Wally. Wally looked back at her.

The panic on her face must have been more obvious than Artemis realized, because Wally sighed and said, "I'll just go get those sheets."

Artemis reached out and curled her fingers around his wrist before he could leave. "Wally," she said. "Wally, I --"

He smiled at her. "It's _fine_ ," he said. "I promise, Artemis. It's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." He gently unwrapped her hand from around his wrist, squeezing her fingers before letting them go. "I really do have to change the sheets, though. She'll check in the morning. And she'll know if I didn't."

He started down the hall towards the linen closet and Artemis followed. "The least I can do is help," she said. "Since I'm stealing your bed and all. What did you do to the guest bedroom anyway?"

He nodded his head toward the door. "Take a look."

Artemis put her hand on the doorknob and turned. She wasn't at all prepared for what she saw. 

The guest bedroom at the West's had been her home away from home for years and she'd never seen it like this. The room was normally kept spotless, always ready for any guest that might appear on their doorstep. This room looked like a Wally shaped bomb had gone off inside. Stuff was piled everywhere, floor to ceiling, boxes and garbage bags and books. So many books. 

She couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of her. "Wally, what _is_ all this?"

He shrugged, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. "Four years of college. It added up."

"I'll say. No wonder your mom was pissed." She snuck him a sidelong look. "Did you really just up and leave without warning?"

"Yep," he said, sticking his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels. His eyes found and held hers. "There was somewhere I needed to be."

It was her turn for her cheeks to go hot. She looked away. "Let's find those sheets."

* * *

When Artemis woke, the sun was just starting to peek through the blinds. She gave serious consideration to burying her head under her pillow and diving back into the relative peace of dreams, but her need to be the perfect house guest won out the way it always did when she was at the West's. Even though she knew Wally's mom liked her -- loved her, even -- the fear of making a mistake or being a burden was overwhelming. It always had been. Artemis was pretty sure it always would be.

Artemis dawdled over making the bed, spending more time than she was sure Wally ever had. And if, by some chance, she happened to glance around the room while she was doing it, well, there was no one there to see her snoop.

There was still a dark splotch on the carpet from where she'd knocked over a coke while they were fooling around on Wally's bed. The movie tickets from their first real date were still tacked up on the corkboard over his desk, and below it sat the picture of them on the night of Wally's senior prom, the one that she hadn't even known Mrs. West had taken. Artemis picked it up, her fingers tracing over the image. Wally's head was buried in her neck and she was smiling at him so sweetly that Artemis barely recognized herself. They looked so in love. So young. It was impossible to believe that it had been just four years ago. So much had changed.

 _Not the loving him part_ , said the traitor that lived in her brain.

A knock echoed through the room and Artemis started, nearly dropping the picture. She caught it before it hit the desk, and set it carefully back in place with unsteady fingers. 

She opened the door, bracing herself to see Wally on the other side. She wasn't ready for him yet, her defenses weren't in place, and she knew if she weren't careful it would be impossibly easy to get caught up in the memories and jump back into what had always been there between them.

It wasn't Wally. Instead, Mrs. West was on the other side of the door, beaming at her. She swept into the room, brushing past Artemis on a wave of White Shoulders and the boundless energy that she'd passed on to her son long before he'd ever donned Kid Flash's mantel. 

"I thought I remembered that you were an early riser," Mrs. West said, bending over to scoop up the clothes Artemis had discarded on the floor. "Would you like to come help me with breakfast? I thought I'd treat Wally." She winked at Artemis. "Mother's prerogative."

"Yes?" Artemis said, not really sure what had just happened. "I mean, sure. Of course. I'd love to help."

"It'll give us a chance to catch up," Mrs. West said, squeezing her arm. "Without my idiot son around to protest that I'm not allowed to ask questions about what's going on between the two of you." She held up the hand that wasn't clutching Artemis's clothes. "I know, I know. It's none of my business. But he _is_ my only son. I have to be allowed _some_ interest. I'll meet you in the kitchen, dear. I'm sure you remember where it is."

Mrs. West swept back out of the room the same way she'd swept in, leaving Artemis feeling like she'd been battered by a high-intensity storm. 

Artemis looked back at the bed, longingly. If only she hadn't ever gotten out of it. 

But she had. And so, with a sigh, Artemis went off to help the friendliest inquisitor she'd ever known make the only boy she'd ever loved breakfast.

* * *

Wally woke up to the smell of bacon. Wonderful, glorious bacon. Which could only mean that his mother had decided to forgive the attempt to sneak into the house, because if she hadn't, there would not be breakfast waiting. Wally knew this from personal experience to be true.

He and his mother still didn't speak of the Bat Cave incident.

He was contemplating putting his head back down and catching a few more z's when he heard it. Laughter. And not just any laughter, but _Artemis_ 's laughter, which meant that she was in the kitchen. Alone. With his mother. Alone. 

His heart racing, he bolted off the couch and into the kitchen.

"Wally!" his mother scolded. "No superspeed in the house. We've talked about this."

"Sorry?" he offered weakly. Artemis sat at the counter, her legs bare beneath a pair of boxer shorts he was almost positive had been his once upon a time. She sipped a cup of coffee and tried to hide the fact that she was grinning. 

Wally frowned at her and zipped over to her side. He plucked the coffee cup from her hand and downed it. The second the bitterness hit his tongue, he regretted that decision. "Blech," he said, his face twisting up into a grimace. "Haven't you ever heard of sugar?"

"Haven't you ever heard of not stealing other people's coffee?" Artemis asked, sweetly. She stole her cup back and poured more coffee into it. She handed it back to him. "Here. Give yourself a cavity."

He narrowed his eyes at her. She was being far too nice and he knew Artemis well enough to know that nice was _not_ her default morning setting. "What did you do?"

"Wally!" his mother exclaimed. She gave Artemis an apologetic look. "It must be the house. He walks in the door and he turns into a teenager again, not the responsible young man I raised him to be." She shoved a plate of pancakes into his chest. "Go eat. Maybe it will put you in a better mood."

He sunk down onto the stool next to Artemis, doing his best to ignore the fact that she was grinning at him again. He shoveled pancakes and bacon into his mouth, and okay, they did help. But the grinning didn't stop, and by the time he hit his third plateful, Wally had had enough. 

"Okay," he said. "Just what is the smiling about?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Artemis said, the smile on her face at odds with the utter disbelief in her voice. "Why would my being in a good mood after having a perfectly _lovely_ chat with your mom, be a cause of concern? I mean, you always did want us to get along, didn't you?"

"Getting along and conspiring against me are two very different things," he said. "As you well know. Or did you want me to call your mom for a casual chat?"

That broke her smile, and brought with it an accompanying poke to the chest. "You're the one that wanted to stop at your parents. Did you think that meant your mother and I _wouldn't_ speak?"

This was better, this was good. He could deal with miffed Artemis so much easier than he could freakishly happy conspiring Artemis. "No."

"Really, Wally," his mother interjected. "Artemis and I have not been plotting against you. Don't be ridiculous. We were just having a nice chat about her plans and your trip so far. Honestly, your name barely came up."

"Sure," he said, not believing it for a moment. He looked at Artemis who was still frowning at him. "I'm sorry. Hunger pains must have made me delusional or something. You would never conspire against me. I know better."

"Shut up and eat your pancakes," Artemis muttered, lifting a new coffee cup to her lips. 

Wally grinned over his fork. "Yes, ma'am."

Just like that, order was restored. Thank god.

* * *

Of course order couldn't last. His mother decided that since he'd skipped out of town before the graduation party she'd planned and that since he was here now and with another recent graduate, that this would be an excellent time to make the party up. So instead of having a relaxing day of not having to drive anywhere, Wally spent the day fetching ice and setting up lawn furniture and generally doing whatever his mother told him because he knew the hell there would be to pay if he didn't.

And when his family and high school friends started to show up, okay, it definitely wasn't the worst thing in the world. He didn't see his Grandpa and Grandma West enough, and he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen some of his cousins on his mom's side of the family. Catching up with his few friends from Keystone High was nice, and he'd have been lying if he said that the jealous looks they kept shooting Artemis while she chatted with Aunt Iris weren't incredibly gratifying. 

But catching up with them meant that he spent the entire night watching Artemis from afar and after more than a week of being with her almost 24 hours a day, it was weird. He didn't like it. Not having her next to him to laugh at his stupid jokes, or close enough that he could just smell her perfume _sucked_. He wanted to kick everyone out and to force her to have the rest of the conversation they'd been avoiding since Las Vegas, the one where they figured out just what they were now. 

Since that was out of the question, he settled for sulking instead. Which is what he was happily doing when Barry approached him with beer in hand.

"Here," Barry said, passing him one. "You look like you need this."

Wally took it and drank. "You know that this has no effect on me, right?"

Barry shrugged, looking amused. "It's what normal people say. Just go with it."

"I can do that," Wally said. He drank deeply and wiped at his mouth. "I'm glad you and Aunt Iris could make it."

Barry grinned. "Miss this? You've got to be kidding. We wouldn't have missed this for the world."

The hair on Wally's neck stood on end. "Why?" he demanded. 

Barry's grin got deeper. "C'mon, kid. You and Artemis? Together again? Not together again? That has to be worth the fifty bucks we gave you as a graduation gift."

"You only gave me fifty dollars?" Wally frowned. He was sort of offended. "I thought I was your favorite nephew."

"Focus," Barry said. "I'll give you more if you give me something that your aunt won't get out of Artemis."

Wally laughed, and it came out sounding more bitter than he intended. "I wish Aunt Iris luck with that. Maybe she'll tell me what she finds out and I'll have to pay _you_."

"Hey," Barry said, his concerned mentor face springing to life. "Is everything okay? Your mom said it looked like you two were working things out."

Wally shrugged. "We are? We aren't? I don't really know." He nodded his head towards Artemis and took another long drink. "It's all up to her."

"Ah," said Barry. He clinked his bottle against Wally's. "Now that is something that I do understand."

They shared a commiserating look and drank.

* * *

By the time people started leaving, the sun was setting. By the time that everyone that wasn't her and Wally and the Wests and Barry and Iris were gone, it was full dark and the backyard was lit by the moon and by the twinkle lights that Mrs. West had made Wally spend all afternoon hanging. It was nice, just sitting in the quiet dark with just the crickets for company.

"My feet are tired," Mrs. West said, leaning her head against Mr. West's shoulder. "That's supposed to be the mark of a successful party, isn't it?"

Mr. West turned his head to kiss her forehead. "If it's not, it should be." He smiled at Artemis. "Did you kids have fun?"

She nodded, as enthusiastically as she knew how. "Yes. Thanks again."

"Yeah, Mom," Wally said, appearing from nowhere. "Thanks."

Mrs. West patted his cheek. "You're very welcome, dear. Try not to run away the next time I want to throw you a party, alright? It makes RSVPs a nightmare." 

"Promise," Wally said. "And as my own personal thank you..." 

He pressed something in his pocket and music trickled into the backyard. It was an old song, one Artemis only vaguely recognized, but from the way Mrs. West's face lit up, it was clear the song meant something to her. To them, Artemis corrected herself, because Mr. West's face had a lesser version of the same sort of happy glow.

Mr. West stood, and pulled Mrs. West to her feet. "I believe this dance is mine," he said, and they swayed together with the easy familiarity of people that have spent half a lifetime learning each other's rhythm. 

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Barry and Iris dancing in the same way, and something in Artemis's chest _ached_. She wanted that. She wanted that with Wally and --

"Dance?" Wally asked, holding out his hand. Hope was written on every inch of his face, and in that moment, Artemis wanted nothing more than that. Than him.

She took his hand and wrapped her arms around him and wished for the moment to never end.

* * *

Wally, on the other hand, desperately wanted the moment to end. Not because having Artemis in his arms, with no pretense between them, wasn't the best thing to happen to him in the last six months. But because the longer it went on, the longer his parents and aunt and uncle would stay there, and all he wanted was to be alone with Artemis, to say the things that it was past time for them to say.

He wasn't sure when he'd become such a fan of making sure all the i's were dotted and t's were crossed, but he suspected it was sometime around when Artemis left him without so much as a backward glance. He looked at his parents, swaying in each other's arms and laughing. Or maybe it had been at birth and those latent domestic genes were kicking in.

Either way, this was it. This was forever. He was willing to wait for it, but it needed to be made clear that this was the direction they were headed.

Wally couldn't deal with getting his heart broken a second time. He wouldn't.

And so they needed to talk.

It was another hour before the older generation left them alone, an hour where Wally could literally feel every second ticking by in agonizing slow-motion. Sure, he faked a smile and tried to laugh at his dad's lame dance moves, but pretending was all that it was. Which was just wrong because his dad was a truly terrible dancer and always good for an honest to goodness laugh.

The minute the light went off in his parent's bedroom, Wally grabbed Artemis's hand and dragged her into the house and up the stairs to his bedroom. He closed the door and turned to face her, finding that she'd already made herself comfortable on the bed.

He raised an eyebrow. She raised one back.

"What?" she said. "The seating options are limited. And I like your bed."

She wiggled slightly, making herself more comfortable, and Wally forced himself to remember all the reasons that talking was the more important thing here. She looked too good there and he remembered all the things they'd done there. It wasn't a fair fight.

"Artemis..." he said, warning or a plea in his voice, he wasn't sure which.

She smiled like she knew the answer to all the questions he'd ever want to ask and patted the place next to her on the bed. "Come here."

It wasn't a request.

Which was why he was so proud of himself when he stayed put, back pressed against the door. He shook his head. "No."

She looked disappointed. "Fine. If that's what you want."

Wally snorted. "What I want? No. What's necessary so that we can have an actual conversation? Yes."

She smiled at that and it strengthened his resolve to make this a short conversation. "Are you suggesting that I distract you?"

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response," he decided aloud. He shook his head to refocus, because yes, she _did_ distract him and she knew it and it wasn't fair. "Now. You and me. What are we doing here, Artemis?"

The smile fell away from her face and her eyes went serious. She took a breath and spoke. "I think we both know that the slow thing we talked about isn't working."

"No," Wally said, shaking his head again. "It's not."

Half her mouth quirked up into a smile, and he wanted to kiss the other corner of her mouth so badly he could taste it. "It's hard to go slow when you love someone." She paused, as if gathering her courage. "And I do, Wally. I love you. You know that."

"Yes," he said. He crossed the room in two big steps and sat down next to her, taking her hands in his. "I love you, too."

She squeezed his fingers and the other corner of her mouth turned up. "I know."

"No fair stealing the good Star Wars lines," he said.

Artemis laughed. "Please. If anyone is Han Solo in this relationship it's me, not you."

He opened his mouth to object and then immediately closed it, having thought the better of it. "Moving on," he said instead. "So at the risk of sounding like we're living in a sitcom set in the 1950's and I'm asking you to go steady, does that mean we're in agreement here? That we're together-together?"

Artemis nodded and something around Wally's heart unclenched. It wasn't that he'd really thought she was going to say no, it's just that she could have. And that would have been terrible.

"Wally?" she asked, and he blinked.

He'd gone somewhere else, clearly, somewhere in his own head and that was a stupid place to be when Artemis was right there and they were in his bedroom, conveniently situated on an actual bed.

She raised her hand to cup his cheek and she gave him a quizzical smile. "I kind of assumed that after all that there would be kissing. Aren't you happy?"

"Babe," he said, pushing her back into the mattress. "You have no idea."

It was the last thing either one of them said for quite some time.

* * *

Artemis woke up the next morning still in Wally's arms. That was great. Better than great. Less than great was that the knocking that woke her up in the first place was still happening and that she was in bed--naked--with the son of the person probably doing the knocking. That was terrible.

"Wally," Artemis hissed as she pushed his arms back and scrambled out of the bed. She grabbed a shirt from the floor and pulled it on over her head. " _Wally_."

Still nothing. She finger combed her hair and did her best to look like she hadn't just spent the night having sex. She was certain that it did no good. With a deep breath and a pasted on wide smile, Artemis opened the door.

Mrs. West stood on the other side. She looked at Artemis, taking in the bare legs and Wally's shirt and looked past her to the lump still in bed that belonged to Wally. She looked back at Artemis with a raised eyebrow. "Well then. I was going to ask what you two wanted for breakfast, but I think I'll just go get something started without you. Half an hour, alright?"

She smiled at Artemis and walked off down the hall. Artemis shut the door behind her and sagged against it. It wasn't like she didn't think Mrs. West knew they were having sex. Artemis wasn't that naive and Mrs. West wasn't that kind of reality denying parent. But there was a difference between knowing and _knowing_ and they'd always stayed very firmly on the knowing side before. She didn't know how to deal with Mrs. West--and Mr. West because there was no way that Mrs. West wasn't telling him-- _knowing_.

Artemis went back to the bed and shook Wally. If she was suffering, he was suffering. Especially since it had all been his idea in the first place.

" _Wally_ ," she said as loudly as she dared, shaking him again. "Get up, _now_."

His eyes fluttered open, still heavy with sleep. "Hey, babe," he said. His hand reached out to wrap around her wrist and he tugged. "Come back to bed."

Artemis shook her head. "Your mom was just here."

His eyes went wide, all traces of sleep gone. He pushed up on his elbows until he was sitting, a look of sheer panic on his face. "My mom?" 

It sounded satisfyingly like a squeak, and Artemis nodded. If she was freaking out, the least he could do was freak out too. 

"Your mom," she said. "Breakfast is in half an hour, by the way."

" _Fuck_ ," Wally said. 

Artemis nodded again. "I believe that sums up the situation, yes."

"Maybe this is a nightmare," Wally said. "I like that idea. Because it has to be, right? Only in my nightmares would my mom walk in on us--"

"Technically I opened the door," Artemis interjected, but Wally just kept talking as if he hadn't heard her. He probably hadn't.

"--the morning after we finally get back together and ruin what should have been an awesome morning after and seriously, this has to be a nightmare." He looked at Artemis hopefully. "It is a nightmare, right?"

Artemis shook her head, her mouth half turned up into a smile. He was really cute when he was like that. She couldn't help it. "Sorry."

" _Dammit_ ," Wally said with feeling. 

"Pretty much," Artemis agreed. "So the question is--what are we going to do about it?"

"Well, I vote for sneaking out the bedroom window, but I suspect you're not going to go for that idea."

Artemis snorted. "You weren't the one standing in front of your mom wearing only your shirt and looking like you spent the night having sex with her son. Believe me, I am in no hurry to recreate that experience."

"Really?" Wally's looked at her hopefully. "You mean it?"

"Yes," Artemis said. "But you don't."

Wally's face fell. "It's not fair you know me so well."

"No," she said. She leaned forward to kiss him, just brushing her lips against his. "But I do."

Wally kissed her again with more purpose, and she let him. When he pulled back, he sighed and said, "I guess this is the part where we get up and face the music?"

"There's going to be music?" Artemis asked, faking her confusion to make Wally laugh. It worked, and the laugh rolled out of him. 

He kissed her again and stood. "I'm going to go shower. I don't suppose since my mom already knows we had sex last night you'd care to join me?"

Artemis threw a pillow at him. It was really the only thing she could do.

* * *

Breakfast was surprisingly fine. His mom didn't say anything about finding Artemis in his room and Wally certainly wasn't about to initiate that conversation. But when he mentioned that they were going to leave soon, his mom got a look in her eye that Wally knew meant that he wasn't getting out of Central City without a capital-T talk. 

Wally looked at Artemis desperately, but she just shrugged and patted his leg under the table. 

"I'm going to go pack," she said, pushing back from the table and standing. "Wally, help your mom with the dishes."

Traitor, Wally thought. 

"Sure," he said instead. "You want me to dry, Mom?"

"It's certainly better than the alternative," his mom said. "Dishes have a tendency to not get clean when you're in charge of washing." She began to stake plates, but Wally shooed her away, doing it himself. 

"I've got this," he said, and zoomed past her into the kitchen. By the time she joined him, Wally was already filling the sink and dumping the silverware into the sudsy water.

"Wally," his mom scolded. "We've talked about the superspeed _especially_ when you're holding things that are breakable. I've replaced enough plates, thank you very much."

"Sorry, Mom," he said. "I forgot."

"Yes, well, don't do it again."

They started washing the dishes in silence, but Wally could tell that she was just biding her time until he'd been lulled into a false sense of security. He refused to let that happen.

"So," his mother said finally. "Can I assume that you and Artemis have worked things out?"

Wally just looked at her. "Mom."

His mother shrugged. "If you haven't, I'd certainly love to hear an explanation for why I found both of you in your bedroom this morning. Would you care to have that conversation instead?"

Wally's face went hot. He most certainly would _not_ prefer to have that conversation. Not that there was a conversation to have, but still. 

"Yes," he said. "I mean, no. I mean, yes, we worked things out. Happy now?"

"Yes," his mom said, and Wally blinked in surprise. That had not been the answer he was expecting. His mom raised a soapy hand to his face and patted his cheek. "I like Artemis very much, Wally." She went back to washing dishes, leaving him still staring at her in shock. "Of course I'd like it even more if she were, say, my daughter-in-law, but..."

" _Mom_."

His mother had the audacity to laugh.

* * *

They left an hour later, with Wally behind the wheel. It was weird, but he'd swear that the air in the car felt lighter somehow. Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was having everything finally be out in the open, maybe it was the way that Artemis's hand rested on his knee without a second thought. Wally didn't know, and Wally didn't care. As far as he was concerned, this was a great day and nothing was going to change that.

And it seemed like for once they were both on the same page, because other than a brief conversation where they discussed what his mom said and where Wally didn't tell the entire truth, because really, Artemis did not need to hear the daughter-in-law bit, the six hour drive to the World's Largest Truck Stop was basically everything movies say that road trips can be.

There was off-key singing, and eating of terrible food, and a handful of occasions where some groping might have been involved. It was _perfect_. Wally was almost sad when the drive was over and they got out of the car to stretch their legs and to revel in all the amenities that the frankly enormous truck stop had to offer.

He said as much to Artemis and she gave him her 'I'm humoring you right now' face. 

"I thought it would be bigger," she said, laughing when his mouth turned down into a pout. She reached over to take his hand. "I'm sorry, I take it back."

He frowned at her, but let her kiss him. He wasn't that much of a dummy. Or that upset. "I guess you're forgiven."

"C'mon," she said. "I'll buy you an Orange Julius. You know you can't resist those."

"This is true," Wally said, and they started for the building. "Those drinks are like magic. I swear they lace them with crack. Or some equally addicting substance."

"That would explain a lot."

Wally grinned and squeezed Artemis's hand. This was an awesome day.

* * *

"I can't believe you wouldn't let me get my hair cut," Wally protested as they drove away an hour later. "The guy was a licensed barber, Artemis. What could have gone wrong?"

She spared him the briefest of glances before accelerating out of the parking lot and Wally leaned back in the passenger seat, sulking.

 _Women_.

* * *

"I have to tell you something," Wally said.

Artemis glanced at him briefly before turning her attention back to the road. It was nine pm on a Sunday, why the hell was there so much traffic. Chicago was a big city, wasn't it? Why weren't all these people using public transit or something. Not clogging up the freeway. "What?"

"Dick made us reservations at hotel downtown. A nice hotel."

Artemis frowned. "Wally, I can't afford Dick's definition of nice. I don't think you can either."

"Believe me, I know. And I pointed that out. At which point he laughed at me and said that it was his treat."

"I don't know," Artemis said. "You know that means we owe him, right?"

Wally snorted. "He owes _us_. Who crashed our trip in Vegas? Seriously, this is his way of paying us back, I'm sure."

Artemis felt herself wavering. A Dick Grayson-nice hotel sounded _really_ good right about now. "He took care of everything?"

"It's _Dick_ ," Wally said, like it explained everything and in this case, Artemis supposed that it did.

"Okay, so where am I going?"

She glanced at Wally and found him grinning ear to ear. "I just so happen to have the directions right here," he said, waving his phone at her. 

Artemis let herself give into the laugh even though something about this whole situation still felt like a set up. Dick might have owed them, but there was no way that was the only reason for this gesture. Something else had to be going on. 

She didn't figure she'd have to wait long to find out what it was.

* * *

"This is _awesome_ ," Wally said as he goggled at the suite that Dick had booked for them at the Drake Hotel. He dropped his bag on the couch and wandered back to the bedroom, grinning at the size of the bed. "Artemis, you have to see this!"

"Oh, I'm seeing it all right," Artemis said, emerging from the bathroom. "Wally, you have to see the bathtub. It's _enormous_." She sat down on the bed. "We are so going to pay for this."

"What?" Wally sat down next to her, his arm resting behind her back. "Babe, Dick doesn't do everything with an agenda."

Artemis gave him a look. Wally winced. 

"Yeah, okay, so he's up to something. But why not just enjoy all this--" he waved his arm around the room "--until we figure out what it is?"

Artemis sighed. "If you insist."

Wally grinned and slid his hand up from the bed to around her hip. "I most certainly do," he said.

He kissed her, using the hand on her hip to pull her on top of him. It made her laugh and Wally swallowed the sound, reveled in it. Awesome was really the only word to describe all this. He had his girl, a bed the size of Lake Michigan, room service. What more could a guy ask for?

There was a knock on the door, and Wally cursed, rolling off Artemis and onto his back.

Artemis patted his leg. "Right on cue. I'll get it," she said, giving a certain part of his anatomy a pointed look. "You stay here."

"Tell whoever it is to go away!" Wally yelled at her retreating back. He flopped back down on the bed. There was no good reason for anyone to be in their hotel room at ten o'clock at night. Not a one. 

He heard the door open. The muffled squeal of "Artemis!" from a voice that sounded suspiciously like Zatanna's. And a laugh that Wally knew as well as his own.

Wally groaned, his head thumping back against the bed. He really should have listened to Artemis.

* * *

"But what are you doing here?" Artemis asked again. The first time she'd asked, it had been lost in Zatanna's squeals of happiness at seeing her and Dick's laughter at the sight of Artemis's face which she could only assume had been struck with the horror that she was feeling. She'd known that Dick was going to make them pay, hadn't she? She didn't know why she hadn't expected this.

Zatanna brushed her hair back off her shoulders and grinned. "Oh, I came home France early and Dick--" she looked back over her shoulder at him "--mentioned seeing you in Vegas, and so when I said that I wanted to see you all before your welcome home party, he suggested this. Wasn't it the best idea?"

"The best," Artemis echoed. She looked back over her shoulder at the bedroom door that Wally had not yet emerged from. "Wally! Get out here _now_."

Artemis smiled at Dick, showing her teeth. "Just how many more ideas are you going to have over the course of this trip?"

Dick grinned and shoved his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels. "Oh, I think this will be the last one. Unless there's a reason for me to have another one."

"No," Artemis said. "I think we're managing just fine on our own."

"Oh, really?" Dick asked, but whatever else he was saying was lost in the blur of Wally finally joining them and Zatanna doling out more hugs and when it was all over, Artemis had that storm battered feeling again. Either Zatanna had missed all of them more than she'd let on while she'd been in Paris or she'd been spending too much time with M'gann. 

Wally moved so that he stood behind her and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "You can say I told you so later. I deserve it."

She twisted her neck back to look up at him. "If you know you deserve it it's not any fun to say."

"So does that mean you're not going to?"

Artemis snorted. "No."

"You two are back together," Zatanna said. She clapped her hands. "That's great! Isn't that great, Dick?"

"Great," Dick echoed. He looked disappointed. Artemis could only assume that he'd come for a show. "When did that happen?"

Artemis looked at Wally. He looked back at her and shrugged. Artemis looked back at Zatanna and Dick. "Last night?"

"We have to celebrate," Zatanna said. She glanced at Dick. "We're going to celebrate, aren't we?"

Dick set his hand on her shoulder. "Whatever you want, Zee."

Zatanna beamed at him and then turned back to Artemis and Wally. "Great! Tomorrow, we shop. Dick, I expect you to make a reservation somewhere worthy of our efforts."

Dick inclined his head slightly. "Of course."

Wally snickered behind Artemis, and Artemis elbowed him in the ribs. There was no need to antagonize Dick when Zatanna was doing such a good job of it all on her own.

"We'll leave you two alone now," Zatanna said, slipping her arm through Dick's arm and tugging him back towards the door. "Have a good night, kids! Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Are there things you wouldn't do?" Artemis called after her and Zatanna's laugh was the last thing that they heard before the door fell closed behind them.

Artemis turned to look at Wally. He looked as shell shocked as she felt and she let herself sag against him. Seriously, where did Zatanna get that energy? It shouldn't be possible for a human being that small to possess the power of a category five hurricane. 

"I told you so," she said.

* * *

When the knock came, it was nine o'clock and Artemis was watching Wally eat his second room service breakfast. She was more than happy to get up and answer the door.

Zatanna stood on the other side of the door, just as Artemis had expected. She'd been shopping with Zatanna before. She knew just how seriously Zatanna took it. Her mission face and her shopping face were eerily similar.

"Are you ready?" Zatanna asked in lieu of an actually greeting. She looked down at her watch and back at Artemis. "We're wasting valuable time when we could be spending Dick's money. Hi, Wally."

From behind her, Artemis heard Wally grunt in what she could only assume was supposed to be a greeting of some sort. She rolled her eyes. "Let's go," she said, snagging her purse from the sideboard where she'd left it. 

Zatanna's nose wrinkled at the sight of it, but refrained from directly commenting on its battered appearance, saying instead, "So we'll add a clutch to the list of things we're buying today. To Nordstrom!"

Artemis looked back over her shoulder at Wally. "If I don't come back, remember that it's all your fault and that I love you."

"Love you too, babe," Wally said, raising his fork in salute. "See you later."

She wiggled her fingers at him and then Zatanna grabbed her hand pulling her from the room. The door swung shut behind them.

Zatanna laughed at the trapped expression on her face. "It won't be _that_ bad. You'll see."

Somehow Artemis very much doubted that.

* * *

Ten minutes after Zatanna and Artemis left, there was another knock on the door. Wally answered it, unsure of who it could be since it was entirely too early for housekeeping and he hadn't decided if he was going to order a third round of room service for breakfast.

Dick brushed past him into the room without a word and headed straight for their bags. He bypassed Artemis's and zeroed in on Wally's, pawing through the contents without any hesitation at all.

"Hi, Dick. Nice to see you this morning. What are you doing fondling my underwear?" Wally said.

"Just as I thought," Dick said, straightening from his crouch. "You don't have a suit with you."

Wally frowned at him. "Duh? It's a road trip, dude. Why the hell would I have a suit with me?"

"That's a fair point, but it's immaterial. You need a jacket for dinner. And since there's nothing in your bag that you can wear a jacket with, we're going to have to buy you a suit."

"Wait, we?" Wally protested. "I am not going shopping with you. Besides, do you even know how to shop? I thought you had magic elves that made all your clothes or something."

"Buying off the rack isn't ideal," Dick said. "But we'll have to make do. We need to go now, though, if there's any hope of getting even the smallest alterations done before our reservation."

"But I was eating breakfast," Wally protested. "Do you really want to take me shopping on an empty stomach?"

"Please, you've already ordered room service twice this morning. Even your bottomless stomach has to be semi-full. We're going. No arguments."

Before Wally was entirely sure what had just happened, he was standing in front of a bank of elevators. Now he understood how Artemis had felt earlier. He probably owed her an apology for that.

He'd have to remember that. Assuming he lived through this, and Wally wasn't assuming that. He wondered if praying for a supervillain to attack Michigan Avenue was an inappropriate reaction.

The elevators chimed, and Wally went reluctantly to face his doom.

* * *

Artemis sat on the bench on the dressing room and watched Zatanna survey the rack of dresses they'd brought in with them. She was _exhausted_. How was it possible that shopping was this tiring?

"I think we've exhausted all of the black dresses in Nordstrom," Zatanna said, pursing her lips. She turned to Artemis with a pleading look. "Are you sure I can't talk you into something with color?"

"No," Artemis said, with a groan. "There has to be something on there we missed. I'll get it. Whatever it is."

Zatanna frowned at her, but turned back to the rack, flipping through the dresses. She pulled one out, holding it up in Artemis's direction. She narrowed her eyes. "I don't _think_ you tried this one on."

"Great!" Artemis practically jumped up and snatched the dress out of Zatanna's hand. She pushed her out of the room. "Now get out."

"It's not like I haven't seen you naked before!" Zatanna called back over the door, and Artemis rolled her eyes.

She changed quickly, tugging the dress into place carelessly. She honestly didn't care what it looked like, but she looked in the mirror anyway, not expecting much. But _damn_ , she looked good.

She flung open the dressing room door. "Please tell me you like this."

Zatanna's eyes went wide and she gestured for Artemis to spin, which Artemis did, gladly. "Wally's not going to know what hit him," Zatanna said, finally. "Baby, you look _dangerous_."

Artemis grinned. Dangerous she liked.

* * *

"You're sure that you can have the basic alterations done by five?" Dick asked the tailor for the fifth time, looking down at his watch. "Because it's--" 

"It's imperative, yes, he heard you--we all heard you--and he said yes the _first four times_ you asked that question. Now do you think you can shut up and stop antagonizing the man who is armed with very pointy pins?" Wally asked from his spot on the fitting stool, his arms outstretched. 

Dick cackled.

"I hate you," Wally said.

* * *

"Alright, so I've let this go on long enough," Zatanna said.

They were in Artemis and Wally's suite, which had been turned into a mini-spa courtesy of Zatanna's cellphone, Dick's credit card, and the hotel's in-room spa treatments. This, Artemis didn't have any complaints about. They'd finished the body scrub and massage portion of the treatments, and now someone was painting her toenails. This, she could get used to.

"What have you let go on long enough?" Artemis asked, even though she was fairly certain that she knew the answer to her question.

Zatanna rolled her eyes. "Don't you dare do that. You know full well what I'm talking about. I didn't press when we were shopping --"

"Ha," said Artemis.

"--but now that we're back here and it's just us, I demand to know what's going on between you and Wally."

"How about you tell me what's going on between you and Dick instead?" Artemis countered. "Or why you came back from France early. Or are the two related?"

"I plead the fifth," Zatanna said, squirming a little in her chair.

"And yet I'm not allowed to," Artemis said, shaking her head at Zatanna. "Remind me again how that's fair?"

"It's not," Zatanna said with a shrug. "And yet, I'm in a giving mood. I'll make you a deal. I will tell you something about Dick and me and then you will share something about you and Wally. After we've both shared, we drink. We'll both be winners."

"Or losers," Artemis muttered, but she nodded. Sometimes ( _all the times_ , her inner voice insisted), it was best to just give in once you'd wrangled the best possible deal from Zatanna. It was certainly easier that way. "Fine. You first."

"I walked right into that," Zatanna said, shaking her head. She shimmied a little in her seat, making an apologetic face at her nail technician and then squared her shoulders. "My coming back early may have had something to do with Dick, yes. Your turn."

"That's not sharing!" Artemis protested. "That's little more than a statement of fact. Sharing would you be telling me what that something to do with Dick was."

"I was hoping you wouldn't notice," Zatanna said on a sigh. "But alright." She shrugged, a little helplessly. "I don't know, really. I _missed_ him, as absurd as that sounds. And I was bored with pretending to date Jean-Paul, and I just wanted to come home." She waved a hand in the air, sliding back into breeziness. "As for the rest, well, I haven't thought about that."

"You mean you haven't _let_ yourself think about it," Artemis corrected. "But I'll allow that as an answer."

"Good, because you weren't getting anything else. Which I believe makes this your turn?"

Artemis traced a finger around the rim of her glass of champagne. "Are you sure I can't drink this first?"

"No," Zatanna said. "Spill."

"I was the reason Wally and I broke up. Not him."

She said the words in a rush, before she could talk herself out of them. Dick would have taken that particular truth to the grave -- it was one of the fringe benefits of being best friends with someone that had received his secrecy training at the hands of Batman -- but it felt right to tell Zatanna somehow, like Artemis was righting the wrong she'd done to Wally for all those months when she'd let their friends think that it was his fault.

Zatanna's eyes went wide and she gripped the arms of her chair. "Explain, please."

It wasn't a request.

Artemis took a deep breath, trying to think of a way to explain that wouldn't make her sound like a complete fool. Dick and Zatanna's unconventional relationship aside, Artemis knew that Zatanna had always envied the stability of her relationship with Wally, at least just a little. It was easy to forget sometimes that Zatanna and Wally's lives and upbringings had been alike in so many of the same mundane ways and that as a result, they wanted the same things. 

"I found an engagement ring," Artemis said finally. She saw Zatanna's eyes go even wider and held her hand up to ward Zatanna off. "He didn't propose. Wasn't going to either, but I didn't know that and panicked and broke up with him first." 

"Oh, honey, no," Zatanna said, reaching over to touch her hand. "You didn't."

Artemis nodded. "I did. And then Wally showed up on my doorstep with a crazy, sweet gesture and I got into the car and several thousand miles later, here we are." She shrugged, helplessly. "My turn has to be over, right? That was more like an overshare."

"There's no such thing," Zatanna said, patting her hand. "But fine. By the rules, I believe we are now entitled to a drink."

Zatanna picked up her champagne flute and tilted it towards Artemis's but Artemis had already drained her glass.

"Okay, when I said drink, I was more thinking a few sips, but if you want to do that, we can do that."

Zatanna drained her glass too and set it aside. She smiled, and it was the dangerous one that sent sensible people who weren't Dick Grayson running for the hills. Artemis both loved and feared that smile.

"Now," Zatanna said. "Let me tell you about my homecoming."

Artemis had never wanted another glass of champagne more in her life.

* * *

She was drunk. 

Of all of the possibilities that Wally had considered for this completely ill advised double date -- villains, tears, endlessly mocking laughs -- none of them had involved Artemis being drunk before they even got to the restaurant. 

And yet there she was, tottering on the skyscraper heels that she'd worn to graduation, poured into a dress that he was willing to pay out whatever kind of favors Zatanna wanted for convincing Artemis to buy it, hot as hell, and seven sheets to the wind. Wally turned to look at Zatanna.

"What did you _do_?"

Zatanna held up the hand that wasn't wrapped around Dick's arm. She was a little wobbly herself, Wally noted, though nowhere near as bad as Artemis. "Her idea, I swear. Did you have any idea how _fast_ she drinks? I'm going to assume that's your fault--" she nodded towards Wally "--because I'm Italian and couldn't keep up. It was impressive, really."

"If incredibly ill-advised," Dick said, looking down at his watch with a smirk on his face. "We've got a reservation in thirty minutes and I'm not convinced that she can make it two steps, let alone two blocks."

"I'm standing right here," Artemis said. "I can hear you."

"Yes," Wally said, patting the hand that he was holding onto for dear life. "We know."

"So?" Artemis asked. "Why aren't we going? I thought we were having dinner."

Wally scratched the back of his neck. He really, genuinely did enjoy drunk Artemis, he just liked her more when her single focus was on things like how bendy she was feeling in bed, not dinners at fancy restaurants that Wally had no interest in going to in the first place. "Well--"

"Let's go," Dick said. He made a beeline for the door, tugging Zatanna along behind him. He opened it and let Zatanna step through, holding it open for the rest of them. 

Wally shot him a look.

"What?" Dick asked, all innocence. It was maybe the worst disguise he'd ever worn in his entire life. He must have known it too, because he laughed the laugh that sounded far too much like a cackle for Wally's liking. "Look, she wants to go, so we'll go. Maybe some food will help soak up some of the champagne."

"This is a bad idea," Wally said, though he knew it was pointless. Artemis was already headed for the door, and pulling him with her. He went, because imagining the alternative was a million times worse.

Dick grinned as they passed by. "I know," he said. "That's what makes it so much fun."

* * *

Dinner wasn't a total disaster. Of course, since Wally had once tried to break into the Bat Cave, his perspective on total disaster was a little skewed. The food had actually helped some, though the fact that every course of the tasting menu came with its own wine didn't do much to help the food keep helping. 

Maybe it wasn't so much that dinner wasn't a total disaster as that the rest of them were rapidly catching up with Artemis's state of drunkenness. It was a thought. And thinking was hard, which probably meant that it was more than a thought and more of a fact.

Wally shook his head and winced. Bad idea.

"I've been thinking," Zatanna said out of nowhere, and Wally's head swiveled towards her. Her cheeks were flushed, and she had her hand somewhere in the vicinity of Dick's leg doing what Wally didn't want or need to know, "you two should make things official."

Wally's eyes went wide and he shot Artemis a panicked look. Zatanna's words seemed to have roused something in her and Artemis's back stiffened. 

"Zatanna," she said, her voice low and sort of menacing. It was sort of hot. And this was was a singularly terrible time to be thinking that. Wally blamed the wine. "Don't do this."

"I'm not doing anything," Zatanna said innocently. It was as bad an act as Dick had tried to pull earlier. Innocence and those two just did not mix. They were both performers. They should know that. "I just meant that you should move in together when you get back to Gotham, that's all. Why, what did _you_ think I meant?"

Artemis set her hands on the table, and Wally could see the exact moment that Dick went on alert.

"Okay," Dick said, "we're all friends here, let's just take a step--"

"You know _exactly_ what I was thinking," Artemis said, ignoring Dick as people were wont to do. "But here's a better question, why don't you two make it official?"

Wally choked. Dick went sheet white.

But Zatanna just laughed, and the tension went out of the room just like that. "Touché," she said. She reached over to pat Dick's cheek. "Why don't you let them know we're ready for dessert?"

Wally sank back against the chair in relief. He had no idea what had just happened, but he was glad it hadn't come to a war fought with cutlery and magic. That wouldn't have ended well for anyone. 

It probably would have been hot, though. Oh god, Wally was so drunk.

* * *

By mutual consensus, they cabbed it back to the Drake even though they were less than half a mile away. None of them thought that their legs could stand the walk.

They said goodnight at Wally and Artemis's door, and Wally had to help Artemis into their room from her place holding up the door jam. "C'mon," he said, guiding her through the sitting room and into the bedroom. "Just sit down here, okay?"

She sat. Or more accurately, she flopped, sprawling out on the mattress. "This is the best bed," she said. "Wasn't it nice of Dick to get us such a nice bed?"

"Very nice," Wally said. He knelt down on the ground and slipped off one of her shoes and then the other. God, he loved those shoes. "Hey."

Artemis propped herself up on her elbows and looked down at him. "Yes?"

"I want you to wear these for me sometime when you're sober," he said, dangling the shoes from his fingertips. "Not that you'll remember in the morning."

"I am _not_ drunk," Artemis said. "Of course I'll remember."

Wally grinned. "Babe. You're loaded."

She lifted one arm and crooked one finger at him. "Come here and say that."

"Do I look stupid to you?" Wally asked. He dropped the shoes to the ground and held up his hand. "I'm well aware that even when you're drunk you're capable of kicking my ass."

"Who said anything about kicking your ass?" Artemis said, and then it was like she _pounced_. 

One second Wally was kneeling on the ground, the next he was on the bed, trapped beneath her. Not that that was such a terrible place to be, especially with how high on her thighs that dress was riding, but still. He didn't understand how it had happened.

Artemis traced one finger down his chest, her eyes glittering at him. "I told you I wasn't drunk," she said, sighing over the words. "I guess I'll have to prove it to you instead."

Whatever Wally might have said next was lost in her fusing her mouth to his. It was all he could do to hold on for dear life.

* * *

That her head was killing her was the first thing Artemis was conscious of after waking. That Wally was curled around her, making her sweat to death, was the second.

"Ugh, get off," she mumbled, throwing a strategic elbow into his ribs.

Wally grunted obligingly and rolled away. She followed him, flopping over onto her back. Someone, she could only assume Wally, had thought to draw the drapes before they'd passed out from the combination of sex and alcohol. She knew there was a reason she loved him.

"I'm never doing that again," Artemis said.

Wally snorted and Artemis gave serious consideration to hitting him, but in the end decided it seemed like far too much effort.

"Shut up," she said instead. She turned her head to the side to look at him. It was a mistake. Pressing a hand to her throbbing forehead, Artemis said, "I didn't see you complaining about the outcome."

Wally snorted again and desire not to move be damned, Artemis slapped her hand against his chest. "It was _sex_ ," Wally said, catching her hand and holding onto it. He didn't even have the grace to grunt this time, the asshole. "Spectacular, bendy sex. Was I supposed to turn that down?"

Against her better judgment, Artemis smiled. He was right about that. 

"Aha," Wally said. With his free hand, he touched her cheek, right at the point where her mouth was curving up. "I saw that. You thought it was awesome too."

There was really no sense in denying it. "Your point being?"

Wally didn't say anything, but instead scooted closer to her on the bed until they were pressed together side to side. His mouth bent to her neck, and he pressed a kiss against her skin. "I've heard sex is an excellent hangover cure," he said, the words ghosting across her skin. "Something about getting rid of toxins. I think. We could try it."

"Not in a million years," she said, but she slid her head onto his chest. "We could sleep more?"

He smiled against her hair, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. "Always."

* * *

The next time she woke, Artemis was alone in the bed. She found a discarded shirt of Wally's and pulled it on over her head. She padded out to the sitting room and found Wally bent over his laptop. 

"Hey," she said, coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around his neck. "What are you doing?"

Wally twisted his neck back to look at her. "You look almost human," he said.

"Gee, thanks," she said. She tightened her arms around his neck so that they were pressed close against his throat. "Was there some particular comment you wanted to make about the way I looked before?"

"No," Wally said on a gasp. "Can't breathe, Artemis, please..."

She let go. "Don't play games you can't win. I thought I'd taught you that at least."

"It's one that bears constant repeating," he said, grimacing a little and twisting his neck back and forth. "Did you get stronger or something? That hurt more than it usually does."

She shrugged and dropped down onto one of the couches. "Maybe. So what's the plan? I assume we're not leaving tonight."

Wally shook his head. "No," he said. "I told Dick that if he wanted us gone he had to tell you to get out of bed and that had him agreeing to lengthen our stay immediately."

Artemis grinned. 

"I figure we'll get an early start tomorrow? It's about eight hours to Nashville, so if we're on the road by six, we could make it there by early afternoon."

"Sounds like a plan," she said. "But what about tonight?"

"Up to you," Wally said with a shrug. "I was thinking group room service and early to bed, but if you want to go out we can do that too."

"It sort of seems like a shame to come here and not do anything Chicago-y, but that's not the worst idea you've ever had." Wally's face fell into a pout and she rushed to add, "You have good ideas all the time. Like this trip. That was a good idea."

"Yeah?" Wally asked. He got up and joined her on the couch, dragging her legs into his lap. "How good of an idea?"

Showing him wasn't any sort of hardship at all.

* * *

"Are you sure that you don't want to come back with us?" Zatanna asked the next morning as she hugged Artemis goodbye. "You could fly back on the Wayne jet, Dick could have your car taken back to Wally's parents."

"Nah," Artemis said, stepping back and slipping her hand into Wally's. She looked up at him and found him looking back at her. She squeezed his hand. "I think we're good."

"Well, be in Gotham in a week for your party. If you aren't, M'gann will send out some sort of search party and you really don't want that, do you?"

Zatanna hugged Wally, and then joined Dick back under the awning. 

Artemis got behind the wheel of the car and looked over at Wally. "Ready?" she asked.

"Babe, I was _born_ ready," he said. grinning at the dirty look she was giving him. "Please, you walked right into that."

When she pulled into traffic they were still arguing about it. When Wally drove them into Nashville city limits nine hours later, because apparently getting out of Chicago always takes longer than you expect, they were still arguing about it.

She'd never tell him, but really, it was music to her ears.

* * *

That night they went to the Grand Ole Opry. Artemis wasn't sure why. She didn't listen to country music, and Wally didn't either. Sometimes she'd catch him singing along to some in the shower and years ago at his prom, he'd known all the words to the country song that his class had chosen as their prom anthem. Yet when they'd made this insane map four years ago, Wally had insisted on this stop.

Artemis guessed it was a Midwestern thing. She didn't mention this to Wally. His unpredictable moments of fierce Midwestern pride were exactly that, unpredictable. And much as she loved him, she really wasn't in the mood for a lecture on the virtues of niceness and Kansas City style barbeque.

Their seats were at the front of the balcony, and Artemis was prepared to be bored out of her mind for two and a half hours. There was no one on the bill that she recognized at all, and she'd at least heard of Carrie Underwood after all. She wasn't completely ignorant. But it started, and she found herself clapping along with the banjos and being sad when it was time for commercial breaks and when it ended, she was genuinely disappointed that the night was over.

She said as much to Wally without thinking it through.

He grinned at her and slung his arms around her shoulders. "If I were less of a nice guy," he said, "this would be where I said I told you so."

Artemis considered it an extreme act of willpower that she didn't dig her elbow into his ribs right there on the spot. She told him that too.

Wally laughed and bent his head to kiss her. On the whole, it was a much nicer way to resolve disagreements, Artemis thought. She just needed to remember it.

* * *

Her eyes were barely open when they checked out of the hotel the next morning. It was eleven hours to D.C. and Wally was determined to do it all in one day so that they would have the maximum amount of time to geek out at the museums. Artemis would have argued with his plan, but since he offered to take the first shift driving, she didn't complain.

The minute the car started, her eyes fell shut. When she woke four hours later, Wally was singing along with the country music that was blaring from the radio.

"We have got to get you out of Tennessee," she said, stretching her arms over her head until the hit the roof of the car. "Are we still in Tennessee? I didn't realize how long this damn state was."

"Good morning, sunshine," Wally said. He reached over to pat her leg. "And yes, we are. I think there's about an hour left if Siri isn't lying to me."

She shuddered. "I hate that thing."

"I know," Wally said. "That's why I only use it when you're asleep."

She laughed and stretched again. Wally's eyes darted to the strip of bare skin on her midriff, and she laughed, hitting his arm and dropping hers. "Eyes on the road, perv."

"Why do you have to ruin my fun like that," he grumbled, but he did what he was told. "You doing okay? We could break for breakfast or stretching or rest stop sex. We haven't done that yet, so this isn't officially a real road trip."

"You really are in a perverted mood today," she said, amused at him. "We went one day without sex, Wally. Not weeks."

"Yes, but we're still in the fluff of the 'reunited and it feels so good' thing. We should be having sex constantly. Or that's what Hollywood tells me."

"Are you sure it's Hollywood and not your mom's romance novels?"

He shot her a panicked glance, eyes wide. "What are you talking about? I don't read those. I've never read those."

"Liar," Artemis said. She patted his cheek. "But that's okay. I won't tell Dick."

Wally went white as a sheet. Artemis almost felt bad for him. But not enough to take it back. And not enough to offer rest stop sex in exchange.

"I'll drive for awhile if you want," she offered instead. 

"No, that's okay," Wally said. He gripped the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles stood out, stark white, against the blue vinyl. "I've got this."

"If you say so," Artemis said. She rested her hand on his leg and turned to look out the window, trying to hide the small smile she'd allowed herself. 

This was more like what she'd always imagined their road trip would be like. It was just a shame that it had taken so long for them to get there.

* * *

By the time they finally made it to their hotel, it was nearly seven. The combination of a longer than normal lunch stop where Artemis had totally caved on the whole rest stop sex thing and D.C. traffic had stretched the supposedly eleven hour drive to something more like thirteen. Wally didn't care, because of the sex and because they were there and tomorrow was going to be an all you can see museum buffet. 

When he said this to Artemis, a map of the National Mall spread out in front of him on one of the queen sized beds in their room, she just laughed from her prone position on the other. 

Wally frowned. "It's not funny," he said. "We need a plan of attack here."

"You sound like Dick," she said. 

He frowned again. He didn't care for the fact that she had a point. "Take that back," he said. 

She shook her head, her hair fanned out beneath her. It was really sort of hot, and _almost_ enough to distract him from him his map. "Nope."

"Because I'm the bigger person, I will ignore that and instead ask you which Smithsonian museums you want to hit. I'm thinking we'll do those tomorrow and the day after we can go to the Spy Museum and Ford's Theatre and whatever else you want. Sound good?"

"Wally," she said, almost laughing his name. "You're such a _nerd_."

"And damn proud of it," he said. "Now, I want to go to the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space one. I'm assuming that I'm in for visiting the American History and --" 

A wadded up clump of fabric hit his map. It was green, much like the t-shirt that Artemis had been wearing all day. Wally looked over at the other bed and groaned.

"Unfair," he said.

She was sitting there in just her bra and shorts, staring at him expectantly. There wasn't a man alive that could concentrate on maps and schedules in the face of that. And if there was, Wally wanted to shake his hand and ask him the secret, because he was a better one that Wally.

"Are you coming over here or do I have to lose the shorts too?" she asked, her eyebrow raised.

Wally made a beeline for the other bed. "That other conversation isn't over," he said, trying for stern but completely abandoning it when her hand slipped below the waistband of his shorts. "Or okay, fine, it is."

When Artemis kissed him, they were both laughing. Wally guessed that the maps could wait.

* * *

The next morning when they were waiting outside the Natural History Museum when it opened at 10 a.m. The second the doors were unlocked, Wally darted inside, dragging Artemis along behind him. 

"Slow down," she laughed. "Do you even know where we're going?"

Wally snorted, but slowed his pace fractionally. "Please, I can find a dinosaur exhibit in my sleep. I have dinosaur radar."

"Oh my god, I had sex with you last night," Artemis said. "How has it never come up that you're this kind of nerd?"

He grinned at her. "Babe. I have a secret identity. I can keep secrets. Especially if they'd stop pretty girls from sleeping with me."

Artemis groaned.

* * *

To make it up to her --though Wally saw her smiling more than once in the dinosaur exhibit-- they went to the American History Museum next. It wasn't like it was a hardship exactly, though when he found out the Julia Child exhibit was closed it was pretty fucking disappointing.

"It wasn't like there was going to be food," Artemis said.

Wally shook his head at her sadly. She just didn't understand.

It was okay, Wally loved her anyway.

* * *

When they finally broke for dinner, Artemis's feet were aching. Between the three museums they'd visited, it felt like they'd walked a marathon. Still, the enthusiasm had been contagious and it was maybe the most fun day they'd had on any of their stops. 

Wally insisted on going to a burger place called Good Stuff, which was apparently run by one of the contestants from his favorite cooking competition show. She didn't argue, mostly because she was starving and because Wally was very rarely wrong about restaurants. She supposed that was the by-product of having a bottomless stomach.

Still, the burger in front of her looked _awesome_. She tried her toasted marshmallow shake first and her eyes almost rolled back into her head it was so awesome.

"Oh my god," she said.

Wally grinned at her. "See? Listening to me is good."

"Shut up, I'm having a religious experience over here."

"Yes, ma'am."

For the next thirty minutes, neither of them spoke a single word. It wasn't necessary.

* * *

They did more museums the next day. The International Spy Museum and Ford's Theatre and the American Art Museum. They strolled through them all hand in hand, laughing and making out in the Sculpture Garden, and it was so nice to just be the two of them, together, without friends or well meaning relations putting extra pressure on them. 

When the sun went down, they were sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, her back against his chest. She tilted her head so could see his face. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," he answered. He brushed a strand of hair off her face, his fingers lingering against her cheek. 

She smiled at him. "I love you."

"I love you, too." 

He kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She rested her head back against him and watched night fall.

* * *

The drive to Philadelphia the next day was short. Artemis had gotten used to driving seven hours minimum at a time, and by comparison, three hours went by in the blink of an eye. This was she liked the east coast. Everything was so close together. No wasting entire days when you wanted to go from city to city or state to state. You didn't even have to drive at all. There were buses and trains and taxis and owning a car wasn't a necessity. 

She looked over at Wally, who was behind the wheel, trying to negotiate traffic. They'd never talked about that, not really. That he loved the Midwest and she was a Gotham girl, born and bred. 

"You're thinking so loudly I can hear you," Wally said, with a sideways glance in her direction. "What's going through that beautiful head of yours?"

"It's really annoying that you can do that," she said.

"Just part of my charm," he deadpanned. "But really, what's wrong? I swear I'll get us there in one piece, potholes be damned."

"Nothing, really," she hedged. "Just, do you want to live in Central City someday?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. But it's not in my immediate plans. I've got you and school and the team, and --"

He trailed off when she leaned over to kiss his cheek.

"What was that for?"

She shrugged. He didn't need to know that it was because he'd listed her first on his reasons for staying on the East Coast. "Because."

"I don't believe you, but I'll take it," he said. He negotiated them down into the underground parking and turned off the car. He leaned over to kiss her. "Now, are you ready for some history?"

She rolled her eyes, but opened her car door to get out. He might be a nerd, but he was her nerd. Heaven help them both.

* * *

"So what next?" Wally asked after their tour of Independence Hall was over. "We can still drive up to Gotham tonight if you want, or we could stay here. We've still got a couple of days before M'gann's big shindig."

Something in his voice made her raise her eyebrows at him. "Or?"

"Well," he said, sounding sheepish. "We _could_ stick around and go to a baseball game. You know, if you wanted."

Artemis laughed. "It's fitting," she said. "We can finish the trip the way we started it. Let's do it."

Wally looked like a little boy who had just gotten everything on his Christmas list. "Really? I mean, excellent, thank you, you're the best," he said, punctuating each word with a kiss. "Best girlfriend ever."

"I expect to be well compensated," she said, trying to keep a straight face. It wasn't at all successful.

"Done and done," Wally said, kissing her again. He waggled his eyebrows at her. "I know what you like."

Artemis decided to let that one pass without comment. It was better for everyone that way.

* * *

They rolled into Gotham a full day before they needed to be in Happy Harbor for M'gann's welcome home party. Wally pulled to a stop in front of her mother's apartment and cut the engine.

"Home sweet home," he said, turning to look at her. "Did you -- did you want me to come up with you?"

It was obvious that he meant the question to sound casual, but was a miserable failure on his part. He wasn't asking if she wanted him to come up, not really, he was asking if she was ready to tell her mother that they're back together and to make everything between them one more layer of official. And she was, she wanted desperately to give him the answer he wanted, but --

"If you come up, your car is going to get stolen," she said practically. She leaned over to kiss him. "Rain check?"

Wally nodded, his mouth curving to a smile against hers. "I _guess_ that's okay. Give Paula my love."

Artemis nodded. "Of course. And maybe you can come over for breakfast tomorrow? She'd like that. _I'd_ like that."

Wally grinned, obviously pleased. "Like I'm going to turn down free food," he said. "What time?"

"Nine-ish? It'll give me time to go to the store to buy out their entire stock of breakfast food."

"Deal." He kissed her again and got out of the car to help her unload her bags. He eyed the stack of luggage warily. "You sure you don't need help with that?"

"No," Artemis said, doing some eyeing herself. "But I am sure about the car getting stolen thing. I'll manage."

"You always do." He hooked his fingers in the belt loops on her shorts and pulled her closer. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He had his serious face on, and it made her worried about what came next. "Is it weird that I don't want to leave? I feel like if I let you out of my sight you're going to come to your senses or something."

It stung a little to hear him say it, but she understood. She deserved it, even. That didn't mean she didn't want him to go back to being the confident one in their relationship. She liked those roles so much better. "I'm afraid you're stuck with me," she said finally, aiming for light but missing it by a mile. She tried to smile at him. That didn't work either. "And hey, once my mom finds out that we're back together she's going to start singing your praises all over again. So really, it's like we won't be apart at all."

Wally smiled a little at that, and bent to kiss her again. "Okay. I'll get out of your hair. If you need me, I'll be at Dick's."

She nodded and dragged his head back down to kiss him once more. She poured herself into it, taking it deeper than was strictly a good idea on a very public street, but it was the only assurance she trusted herself to give him that there was no chance of him misinterpreting. 

When he pulled back, he was gasping for air. "Much as I enjoyed that, I have to go or I won't. Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow."

Artemis stood at the curb and watched him drive away. She could last without him for a day, right? If she couldn't, that probably said something about her or them and she wasn't really ready to think about what it meant. Even if she should.

With a sigh, she gathered her bags and started into the apartment building. Alone.

She really had to stop thinking about that.

* * *

She knocked on the door of the apartment, waiting to see if her mother would answer before digging into her pocket for the keys. Lugging all this shit was more of a pain in the ass than she would be telling Wally it had been, that was for sure.

The door opened, and her mother was framed in the entrance. "Artemis!" she cried. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming today?"

"Mom!" She dropped her bags and bent to hug her mother, squeezing her tight. It was _good_ to be home, to see her. Artemis hadn't known how much she missed both until right this instant. "It's so good to see you."

"You too," her mother said, stroking a hand over her hair. "But come in, come in! We can talk just as well inside."

Artemis grinned as she scooped her bags back up. There were some ways in which her mother and Wally's mother were freakishly similar. She carried her stuff straight back to her old bedroom, dumping the bags on Jade's long unused twin bed. It was strange the way some things didn't change. She looked at her own bed, the bed where she'd slept and dreamed and had sex and left and had now come back to. Maybe life really was about full circles, she thought. 

When she'd left this room, four years earlier, she'd been with Wally. When she walked back in, four years later, she was with Wally again. 

That had to mean something.

"Artemis!" her mother called out from the kitchen. "Come have tea with me, I want to hear everything."

Artemis went. That was another thing that hadn't changed. She found it reassuring.

* * *

The elevator opened into Dick's apartment, and Wally walked off it, expecting to find the place empty. It was the middle of the day, after all, and if there was one thing that Dick was it was responsible. But no, there Dick was, sitting at the breakfast bar, bent over an iPad and talking into a Bluetooth.

"Hey," Wally said, dropping his bag on the floor and heading straight for the refrigerator. "What're you doing here?"

"I live here," Dick said, deadpan. "No, sorry, Angela, that wasn't directed at you. I need to step off the call, though. Thanks." He disconnected, pulling it out of his ear and looked at Wally expectantly. "Well?"

"Well what?" Wally asked. He piled sandwich fixings on the counter and starting constructing a massive sandwich. "Thanks again for letting me stay."

Dick waved it away. "You know damn well what."

"You know, the girls really are right about you," Wally said. "You are an incurable gossip."

Dick snorted. "First, you're one to talk. Second, if they ever hear you calling them _girls_ , there will be nothing left of you."

"True," Wally said. "Which is why I never let them hear me calling them girls."

"It's been less than a week," Dick said, mostly to himself. "How is it possible I forgot how frustrating conversations with you are?"

Wally grinned and picked up his sandwich. "It's a gift."

"Use a plate," Dick said in disgust. 

Wally swallowed. "Someone's inner butler is showing."

"I can still take away your security clearance."

"Fine," Wally said. "To answer the question that you're not asking, no, there is nothing to report. There was no discussion of living together or anything more permanent, shall we say. Which, hey. You looking for a roommate? It's not like you don't have the space."

"You're not really what I'm looking for in one, no," Dick said.

"Because I don't have breasts or answer to the name Zatanna, I'm assuming," Wally said. 

"I don't know what you're talking about," Dick answered, but the slightly panicked look in his eyes told Wally everything he wanted to know. "But really? Nothing?"

Wally shrugged. Yeah, it sucked. He wanted to live with Artemis. He wanted to _marry_ her. But he also wanted them to last, and if that meant taking things at her pace, he'd go along with it. He could wait. Some things were worth waiting for. Artemis was one of them.

"Nope."

"Bummer," Dick said. He looked like he wanted to say more, but kept his mouth shut. He looked down at Wally's sandwich, made a face. "That's disgusting."

Wally took another huge bite, just because he could.

* * *

The next morning, Artemis opened the door to a beaming Wally. "Hi," he said, leaning in to give her a quick kiss. He stepped around her into the apartment. "Where's your mom?" he asked, holding out the flowers she hadn't even noticed he was carrying. "There are for her."

Artemis frowned at him. "Suck up."

Wally nodded, grin still firmly in place. "Yep. Your mom?"

"I'm right here," came a voice from behind them and Wally looked past Artemis, zeroing in on his prey.

"Ms. Nguyen!" Wally snuck past Artemis again and bent down to kiss her mom's cheek. He set the flowers in her lap. "You look great."

"You should not have," she scolded, picking the flowers up and sniffing them. "But they are lovely. Thank you. Artemis, get a vase."

"Yes, Mom," she said. As she walked past Wally, she whispered in his ear, "I hate you."

She didn't have to look at him to know that his grin got broader. "Love you, too!" he called after her.

She only allowed herself to smile once she was safely past his line of sight. No use in making his head bigger than it already was. And besides, unless she was very much mistaken, her mom would take care of that for both of them.

* * *

"I hate to eat and run," Wally said an hour later, "but can I steal your daughter for the rest of the day?"

"I didn't think the party was until later," Artemis objected. "I was going to --"

"No, no," her mother said, waving her hand. "Go with Wally. Have fun. We will have plenty of time to talk more later."

"Are you sure?" Artemis asked. 

Her mom nodded. "Very sure."

"You're the best, Ms. Nguyen," Wally said, bending to kiss her cheek again. "I'll come back soon, I promise."

"Not if I have anything to say about that," Artemis muttered under her breath. If Wally was allowed to be freaked out by her being friends with his mom, surely she was allowed to be freaked out at how much her mom liked _him_. It was only fair. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay? I'll probably just crash at the Cave tonight."

"Have fun," her mother said again.

Artemis scooped up her bag from next to the door and opened it for Wally. "Let's go, Romeo," she said. "This was your idea, so stop flirting with my mom."

Wally grinned at her as he went out the door and kissed her cheek. "Jealous?"

Artemis barked a laugh. "In your dreams."

"No, you're usually naked in those," Wally said, grabbing her and kissing her before she could tell him not to say things like that where her mother could hear them. "I missed you."

"It was just one night," she said, flustered. But she'd missed him too, and maybe she should tell him that? It felt weird and clingy and co-dependent and -- "Me too."

Wally's smile was dazzling. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

They stared at each other like a couple of besotted idiots until the elevator signaled its arrival. 

"C'mon," Wally said, taking her hand in his. "Happy Harbor awaits."

* * *

M'gann's cry of "Artemis!" was the first thing that she heard when she stepped out of the zeta tube. Someone flew at her and she found herself wrapped up in a huge so tight she could barely breathe.

"Hi, M'gann," she managed. "Can't breathe."

"Sorry," M'gann said, loosening her her hold fractionally. "It's so good to see you!"

"You too," Artemis said. She looked over M'gann's shoulder. "Hey, Conner."

He nodded at her. "Hello."

That was about right. 

"Where's my hug," Wally demanded, and M'gann finally let her go, turning her attention on Wally instead. It was sort of a relief. M'gann's enthusiasm was great, but you risked severe bodily injury if you were faced with it for too long.

"The place looks exactly the same," Artemis said to no one in particular. "I missed it."

"We missed you," M'gann said, coming back over to loop her arm through Artemis's. "You have to tell me everything. I've never been on a road trip before, what was it like?"

A million more questions flowed off her lips, and Artemis did her best to keep up, but it was impossible. No one could keep up with M'gann when she was like this. She looked over her shoulder at Wally and mouthed _"a little help here?"_ , but he just smiled at her and stayed where he was.

Traitor. She took back every fond thing she'd thought about him in the last week. He didn't deserve any of it.

* * *

Even though the party wasn't technically supposed to start until that night, once word got out that Artemis and Wally were there, people started trickling in until by mid-afternoon the Cave was full of team members present and former, as well as members of the Justice League. 

Ollie was full of "I told you so's" and Dinah was there to distract him. Batman offered a curt congratulations on her graduation and questions about when she'd be reporting for duty. Red Tornado's welcome back was warmer than a robot's hand any right to be, and Barry proceeded to tease her and Wally mercilessly. 

It was wonderful and chaotic and overwhelming, and after two hours of it, Artemis had to slip away for a moment by herself. She drifted back to her old bedroom, the one she'd used mostly to make out with Wally without parental interference, though team interference had proved just as annoying. Considering all of them maintained secret identities, none of them were well versed in respecting others privacy.

"Hey," Wally's voice said from behind her, and she turned her shoulder to find him standing in the doorway. "You okay?"

She nodded. "Just needed a breather. You?"

"You know me," he said, stepping inside and letting the door fall closed behind him. "Life of the party. I just wanted to check on you."

"That's very sweet of you," she said. "But I don't buy. Hiding from Barry?"

Wally groaned and settled on the bed. "And Ollie. I thought Dinah was keeping them apart, but somehow they ended up together and --"

She held up a hand. "Say no more." She sat down next to him on the narrow bed and rested her head on his shoulder. "It's good to be home."

"It is," he agreed. "Weird, but good."

"You think it's weird, too?" she asked, lifting her head to look at him in surprise. "I thought I was the only one."

Wally shrugged. "Nah, I think it's normal. We were gone for four years. We changed." He shrugged again. "Didn't someone say you can't go home again?"

She wrinkled her nose. "I don't think I like that idea either."

Wally laughed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "It'll just take some time," he said. "We'll figure out how to make everything old new again."

"Promise?"

"I promise," he said, his eyes fixed firmly on hers. 

And just like that, she believed it too. Because Wally always kept his promises to her. He never held it against her when she broke hers, or couldn't bring herself to make promises at all, but once he committed to something it was as good as done. 

The certainty of him had scared her once. But now, in this moment, it made her want to do more. It made her want to be more.

She took a deep breath. She could do this. "I want to ask you something," she said. 

"Sure," Wally said. His fingers traced the skin along the edge of her sleeve. It was distracting. "Shoot."

"What would you think about finding a place together?" she blurted out. "Move in together, I mean."

Wally stared at her in shock for a long moment, and then the widest smile she'd ever seen bloomed across his face. He shook his head, trying to dampen it down, but it wasn't any use. 

"I don't know," he said, and her heart sank just a little. He couldn't look at her like that and say no, could he? "I mean, this is so sudden." 

She made a move to reach behind him for a pillow, but he grabbed her hands and looked her straight in the eye. "Yes," he said, and he kissed her before she could say a single word in response.

She kissed him back, as he pressed her slowly down into the mattress. His hands ghosted promises against her skin, and for the first time in as long as she could remember Artemis had all the answers that she needed.


End file.
